Never Broken
by loopylouise123
Summary: An 'incident' brings Red X and Robin closer together, however, neither of them had any idea of how the actions of one night could lead to such huge repercussions. Slash.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first real try at a story. My other one was a one-shot. It may be only be a couple of chapters long, but I'll see how it goes.**

**Non-con Rancid/Robin,con RedX/Robin. Slash. **

**Disclaimer:No matter how much I wish it I do not own these characters nor the show.**

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Everything he believed in came crashing down in a peacock tail of flames laced with burning anguish. 

Only the pain and sorrow filled his already traumatic mind, adding more confusion to the scattered thoughts as he tried to process to_ why_ this was happening. That line he held for right and wrong was suddenly cut into a million pieces as is shattered as brilliantly as delicate glass. His views that he held for the criminal mind twisted and morphed into something demonic and repulsive, and he cursed his childish mind for thinking that _he_ could never sink this_ low_.

He cried out in pain as his captor thrust more deeply and Robin's cry of desperation mixed with _his_ cry of release. Then _he_ ground against the boy with a grunt before extracting himself and whispering softly into the Boy Wonder's ear.

"Thanks for the great time Birdboy, who knew you could be a real blast?" With that Johnny left the hero, satisfied and pleased that the paralysing agent had worked. He quickened his pace as he left the alley. It wouldn't be long until it wore off, and he didn't doubt for a second that there could be the consequence of the heated wrath of the Titans descending onto his shoulders. Yet, he thought smugly, that was the sweetest victory to date.

The feel of perfect adrenaline cursing through his veins as he pulled of another successful heist was like a drug to him as he soared through the city, jumping from rooftop to rooftop with his prize safely in his belt, he was in heaven.

Red X paused in his victory flight at the sight of Rancid humming merrily down the street. He would skip every now and then before settling into another unrecognisable tune.

_What's he so happy about?_ Thought Red curiously, as he watched perplexed at the strange behaviour from another Jump City criminal.

Shrugging, Red X took of again, not really caring about Rancid's change in behaviour, he had better things to do. Like getting his merchandise home and finding a suitable buyer.

How can he have been so stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

He should have seen that spray in Rancid's hands. He should have finished him before he even had the chance to use it, goddammit!

In his fury Robin punched wall, turning and swinging to kick a bunch of crates. They splintered and tore upon impact; bits of wood flew across the rooftop before skidding and sliding to a stop. Next the remains were thrown everywhere as Robin decided they weren't broken enough yet. Their contents of empty glass bottles shattered mercilessly, just as Robin had under the hands of Johnny. It was time the crates suffered the same fate too.

He kicked and screamed, took out all his anger on any object he could find, and soon the rooftop was strewn with broken glass, wood splinters and a shattered young hero who now was crouched over in the mess, tears streaming down his face as he allowed himself now to express sorrow. All he wanted to do was cry, something he had never allowed himself to do in a long time. Robin no longer cared.

_What the hell! _Red X changed his direction and headed towards the yells and grunts of what sounded like someone in a fight, and the crashes of public property being destroyed as a result of it.

The sounds got louder as he neared his destination and was now accompanied with the shattering of glass. He soon realised that those human cries were only coming from one person, a person he knew very well indeed.

He skidded to a stop and watched in horror as Robin attacked everything in sight. His search and destroy mission extended to the whole rooftop, anything the boy could get his hands on he destroyed it. He held no mercy for the unsuspecting crates and Red could only watch this massacre in frozen shock.

Red X had never seen the kid loose control like this, never had he seen anger so raw, and never seen this kind of destruction come from the noble hero.

What the hell had caused this?

Then in an astonishing turnaround, the boy wonder collapsed onto his knees, emitting a final cry before bursting into tears. Hunching forward and clutching at the ground for some kind of escape or reprieve.

Red didn't know what to do. He saw the broken hero and his normally selfish heart went out to him. No matter how much Red wished he didn't care, the truth was he did. And before Red X could fathom to what he was doing, he was inching forward towards the boy. Carefully avoiding the glass he stretched his arm out, his hand hovering over Robin's shoulder.

"Kid?"

Before Red could even blink Robin had jumped up turned around and stumbled back away from the thief. A disbelieving look plastered on his face as he tried to understand what the thief was doing there. He caught his bearings and stared at Red while wiping his face, even though it was too late to hide tears now.

"W… what are you doing here?" Red was surprised by the sound of vulnerability that was etched into the voice. Robin had never looked more like his age.

"I could say the same to you kid. Jumping around and destroying public property isn't what I thought would be your cup of tea. But who am I to question a hero's antics."

Robin paused taking time to look at the remains of the battle, before shaking his head and shakily turning around heading off to hell knows where…

Red hastily caught up with Robin, worried about the lack of answer and the absence of that usual fire fuelled by pride and determination to seek justice. Red hopped in front of the boy stooping him in his tracks, hoping to try and get an answer to the many questions buzzing around in his head.

"Whoah! Wait a moment, what's this all about?" Red stood with his hands on his hips keeping his cocky mask to hide the worry and frustration. "Why do you look like you've just been in a fight with Plasmus?" Red waited for an answer from the unusual quiet boy, whatever had happened must have been big to get the kid into such a state. He never even believed he would ever see the prideful Boy Wonder cry.

Still not getting an answer, only the lack of gaze which was currently drawn to the floor, X raised his hand and lightly touched his shoulder hoping to get some attention. Suddenly a green gloved fist imbedded itself into his stomach and Red found himself kneeling on the floor wincing in pain.

"Don't touch me." The voice held a dark malice, a silent warning tipped with a fear inducing growl. Red had no doubt he had learnt that from his former mentor now hiding faraway in the dark shadows of Gotham.

Robin turned and ran off; his metal tipped boots crunched the wood and shattered the glass, his cape flowing behind him, flapping in the light wind. Sneaking a glance back he caught the sight of the thief behind him, sprinting forward trying to snag his cape. Panicking Robin picked up his pace and jumped from roof to roof, using his natural acrobatic abilities and trained experience from Gotham's nightly excursions. In hope to loose his pursuer.

Robin didn't need this now, he wanted to be alone. Away from the prying eyes of team mates, the questioning voices of friends and any annoying thieves who picked the wrong time to change their ways and act concerned. He still wasn't over what Rancid did too him, and he knew it wasn't going to go away by itself. He wasn't the type to hide his problems and act cowardly by pretending they weren't there. He was taught to face his fears, learn from his mistakes and move on. Yet he was the type to do things alone, not wanting help from anyone else, either from pride or fear he hated to let anyone see him _weak_ and _vulnerable_. However Red X _had_, and that made it all the worse.

Seeing that the thief was refusing to give up the chase and leave him alone he removed his trusted grappling hook from his belt and got ready to swing faraway from any human presence. That was until a flying 'X' knocked it out of his hand so it dropped onto the road or empty pavement below.

Furious Robin turned to face the culprit. "Why can't you just leave me alone!"

"Sorry kid, but the chance to chase you for once was too tempting. Since it seems it's always the other way around."

Robin really did not have the patience to deal with that cocky attitude of his tonight.

"Will you just get lost. I don't want to deal with you right now, and if you want to go to jail be my guest and keep following me and see what happens." Because Robin really hoped that the threat of jail would keep Red off of his back. Yet with his luck lately it did not deter the determined thief.

"I may consider leaving you alone until you tell me why you got so worked up, and then maybe we can go from there."

"It really isn't any of your business to what went on before you saw me on the roof." Then something Robin hadn't considered before suddenly dawned on him. "Why do you even care?"

Red X really hadn't been expecting that question, and the reality that they were actually having this conversation was abnormal enough and Robin trying to switch the questioning around was only complicating the matter. "Who wouldn't? It's not an everyday occurrence that you see your rival _crying on the floor_. It's enough to shock anyone into finding out the truth and even if I'm just a low life thief I'm still human."

Now it was Robin who was caught of guard. The shock and realisation at the sight Red X had actually seen him in was embarrassing and upsetting enough to make him want to break down again. Giving himself a mental slap he quickly glanced at X and took in what he said. "I don't think you're a low life." He whispered.

That was nice. It was as near as a compliment Red had gotten from Robin and he couldn't help feeling more confident that what he was doing was the right thing, and not just leaving Robin to his grieve so Red could take his stolen goods home and forget what he saw. "That's good to know kid. But you still haven't answered my question. Let's make it easier, who else was involved to whatever happened."

Red was trying to get answers again. Answers he really didn't want to give, but this is Red X. The selfish thief that had not only saved his life, and the cities. He also had allowed Robin to retrieve his most valued possession before anyone else could. He _owed_ X that much. "Johnny Rancid."

The name was said with so much malice and hate that if Red hadn't believed Robin was too noble he would have thought that Robin had the intention of killing him. But wait, didn't he see Johnny earlier? He wasn't that far from Robin at the time, and it couldn't have been long after whatever had happened. Yet something else bothered him. "I saw him not far from where I saw you. Did that incident benefit Rancid in anyway, since he too happy for him to be normal."

Robin inwardly flinched. Red X couldn't have been closer to the truth and yet so far from it at the same time. Robin sighed and sat of the wall of the roof facing Red X, leaning backwards so his back hit the railing. A growl worked its way into his voice as he answered. "I bet the bastard was happy. He got what he wanted." Robin was surprised that he had swore, but he really thought that this time he had an excuse. But he silently apologized to Alfred anyway.

Red too was surprised, another thing he thought Robin would never do was added to his list. Red was even the more curious yet starting to dread the answer that Robin would give to his next question and found himself sat next to Robin but leaning forward to look at his face. He held so many emotions it was hard to tell what he was feeling. Sorrow, anger and even fear flickered across his face now and again changing as quickly as the winds.

Plucking up the resolve and the new need to help his rival he asked. "What did he get?" Because Red really hoped it was just as simple as a stolen item, even a close possession of Robin's. And not what was lingering at the back of his mind. Telling him all the signs were correct and that Robin wouldn't get this upset over something as trivial as objects.

Robin looked at Red and saw that his posture only showed friendliness and a want to understand and help. It was strange to see him so relaxed while Robin felt so tense and upset that he was near to shaking. He didn't know how to answer Red's question without putting it bluntly and maybe Robin shouldn't be doing this. He should be with his friends and telling them, not Red. Yet he and Red had some strange connection that was brought about not just by fighting side by side, but by a deeper understanding that lingered in the pit of his stomach and travelled up to his beating heart. Robin could only put his head in his hands in shame and humility.

The worry that had been eating away at his brain had suddenly flared up again and not only was it accompanied with concern but anger, but not at Robin but a certain bike riding rock-punk that if his suspicions were proven correct would be in an never ending world of pain. "Kid. What. Did. He. Do?"

The question was told with such authority that Robin could not help but answer. However his voice was raw and when he answered he sounded small and scared. "He raped me."

The bluntness and traumatic answer first shocked X into silence. He saw Robin and yet could never comprehend what he had been through, the surprise at Robin for acting the way he had had vanished. Swept away by a raw burning hatred for Rancid and anger so strong that he forgot to breath. A light touch on his arm tore him from his thoughts of revenge, and he looked up to see a green gloved hand resting softly on his arm, and the face of the owner looked so confused that the anger subsided. Red knowing that anger was not what Robin needed right now. Yet Red X, who had never been in this situation before, didn't really know what Robin needed.

"Red?"

"Sorry, kid. I'm really am."

Robin looked away. "There's no need for you to feel remorse. It's my own fault, if I hadn't been so stupid I…"

"No!" Red couldn't take Robin apologizing, what that freak did…. He couldn't even put it into words. "You listen to me. It wasn't your fault, never was never will be. Do you understand?"

Robin couldn't believe this. Red X was here helping him, not being selfish, not being arrogant and not mocking him. It was kindness Robin didn't deserve; he didn't understand why X wasn't running, why he was still here when Robin was disgusting, dirty and… "I don't understand X." Robin turned to look at the confused face of his once rival. "Why are you here helping me? Help that I don't deserve."

And Red didn't really know the answer to that. Because Red X is a thief, someone who takes things from other people, not giving them things, especially his kindness and concern. Which recently was only saved for himself. Yet here he was, listening to Robin, _helping_ him and now he has to explain why, when he can't, not even to himself. However, he was very sure on one thing.

"You do deserve it kid. Don't ever think you don't. And those friends of yours would say the same. You're not any different from last month, last week or even an hour ago. Don't let what he did too you ruin your life because I know you're stronger than that. You do deserve better, and that's a compliment coming from me."

Robin couldn't help but smile, a small grin played across his lips and that warmth he felt when ever he was in the other teenagers presence returned. It was comforting to think that Red really did care, but mentioning his friends only brought back the realisation that he would have to explain why he was out for so long. When he should have been back an hour ago.

"Red X I…." Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by his communicator going off, it's loud beep cutting off his words like a knife and with it the connection between himself and Red X. For the time being.

Annoyed Robin turned it off but got up anyway to leave. He knew his friends were looking for him, and it would only be a matter of time until they found him, even though he was not looking forward to it.

"I suppose you better go. That bubbling alien will most likely pop her head into our business if you don't leave now." Red was disappointed that he had to go. He knew Robin wasn't anywhere near alright and that he wasn't going to tell any of his friends what had happened. But the conversation they had was better than nothing, and it felt strange to have saved Robin for once, for him to be the hero.

Robin nodded, but then said. "Thank you." Smiled warmly, then jumped of the side of the building, flipped once and caught a fire escape. He pressed a button on his belt that would summon his bike and as he waited he glanced back up at the roof, but Red X was gone.

Red was currently sweeping through the city on his way to find a certain bike riding rock punk. _I will find you Rancid and when I do I'll have you wishing that you never met Robin._

However, unknown to Red a shadow was following him, the owner whose face was only recognisable by a black and orange mask.

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**Meh, was a good place to stop.**

**Please don't flame me, but reviews are welcome.**

**And yes, that was Slade. Nothing happens to his little bird without him knowing. We'll see his reaction in the next chapter. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Still do not own.

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Chapter two

The loud rev of the red motorcycle and then the accompanied click of the dying engine alerted the Titans to Robin's return. As usual Starfire flew off gleefully to greet their leader and to retrieve information on the whereabouts of their pizza, in which Robin had volunteered to pick up that evening. Surprisingly Starfire returned without their leader and without their pizza.

"Robin will not speak to me. He has just retired to his quarters and apologises for the lack of food."

"What?"

"Oh man, and I was looking forward to my veggie supreme!"

"Dude, no one wants to know about your nasty tasteless pizza. Why didn't he get the pizzas Star?"

Starfire paused for a moment, as if trying to recollect the memory, but then she soberly answered "when questioned he said that there are current cases more important than the need to snack on needless food and he had better things to do."

"What!" Cyborg stood up ready to take on the leader in a verbal dispute on the needs and wants of nourishment and obsessively looking into crimes without breaks. However a certain blue hooded telepathic interrupted his ready crusade.

"Maybe we should hear Robin's side of the story first."

"What's there to know?" The green changeling interrupted. "He made it quite clear to Starfire that he'd rather drown himself in newspapers than let us have food."

"Man, what's his problem?" The mechanical giant began pacing around the room. Puzzlement etched into his face. "And where the heck has he been all this time? It couldn't have taken two hours to decide that pizza wasn't the best choice and that he'd rather let us have nothing and dive in books again."

"Yeah, I mean that usually only takes him about two minutes." The other Titan's glare bore holes into Beastboy's body. He put his hands up in mock surrender. "But that normally doesn't include the rest of us. He just doesn't feed himself."

They paused. The normally big-headed jokester did have a point; Robin was never selfish enough to starve them of food. The guy was just too _selfless _to forget about his team, his friends.

"I propose we take Raven's advice and go and ask him. Perhaps he can shed light into why he has taken this course of action."

"Maybe. But you know what the guy's like. If something's bothering him he'll just lock himself up in his room for hours on end then never talk about it."

"Then how about we give him a reason not to do that." The team turned to Raven, her hood down displaying her usual emotionless face. "We should let him cool down for a bit. Wait for him to become approachable again so he will be easier to talk too. Instead of forcing answers out of him when he's going to be on edge and easily aggravated."

They reluctantly nodded. Knowing that Raven was right and they should let their leader have his space for now. Though each of them couldn't help wondering to what had happened to make himself closed off again. It was just like the time when Slade had haunted the streets; they hoped it never got to that again.

Meanwhile on the other side of the city…

"I told you I don't know what you're talking about!" As a reply Rancid was once again slammed into the wall, hard. "AARGH! Jesus, man! What's a thief doing sticking up for a Titan? I thought you would bask in the idea to get back at that Bird-brain."

"Not in the way you did, you filthy excuse for a criminal. Guys like you give guys like us a bad name goth-prat. Now tell me how you managed to immobilise Robin long enough or you'll end up in pieces at the bottom of a canal."

The growl emitted from the usually upbeat fellow thief was enough to make Rancid spill. Though he was still completely clueless to how Red X managed to find out about what he had done, and then tracked him down to his apartment. "Ok! I got a hold of a paralysing agent, said it was long enough and powerful enough to keep him still. But why do you even care Red X."

"None of your business. Now who gave it to you?" Red X was really fighting the urge to destroy this thing once and for all, but something was telling him that he should find out some facts first. Maybe some of that Boy Wonder detective instinct was rubbing off on him.

"I'm gonna tell you nothing." Rancid lifted his leg and managed to plant his foot into Red's stomach, kicking him several meters away. "It isn't any of your business."

Red was about to leap and land a punch on the bastard's jaw, but then a looming shadow descended into the small room. Covering Rancid's bemused form.

"Oh, it might not be any of his business." The soft threat of the owner's voice had been heard by many men before being sent to their death by the hands of this individual, now standing with his hands clasped behind his back. "But it is certainly is _mine_."

The devil has arrived, and he has come for a new soul.

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**Sorry about the short chapter guys. I promise I will make it up in the next one, and there will be a suprising little twist that'll make this story longer than I expected.,**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:Don't own any of the characters.**

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The spray of warm water cascaded down Robin's tired body, washing away all his aches and pains leaving him refreshed and feeling cleaner.

He had returned to the tower about half an hour ago and after a quick debate with Starfire he had rushed to the shower, discarding his uniform and his mask, and relishing in the fact that Rancid was finally being washed away from his body. He had thanked whatever God that had given him privacy and stopped the Titans from interrogating him on his late arrival and the lack of food. Right now there was just him and the soft spray of gentle water.

Stepping out another ten minutes later and wrapping a soft feathery towel around his waist he picked up his uniform and prepared to go and burn it when a small piece of folded paper dropped out from the bundle of clothes and landed silently onto the floor. Curious Robin placed his uniform on the side and bent down to pick the paper up keeping a firm grip on his towel when he felt the tickle of it sliding down his hips. He opened it up. A glowing black dragon with red markings painted down it's spine stood wrapped around, what looked like, some Egyptian symbol. It's blue eyes glared at the boy, silently sending out a warning of the danger yet to come. Robin's own blue eyes widened and he searched his mind for any recognition of this mark, maybe from a cult or a gang group. He sighed angrily at his inability to place it and began to wonder how it had gotten in his uniform.

_A joke of Beastboys perhaps? _He shook his head, he didn't see any point to it. He thought of the people that could have slipped it to him today. He sat next to Starfire on the couch earlier watching a re-run of _When cosmetic surgery goes wrong_, he paused, no it couldn't of been her. Rancid? He shivered; it could have been easily him, but why? Possibilities surged through his brain and they all seemed plausible. Though could it have been Red X? His heart stopped for a moment as he remembered at how close they were, and how Robin felt _safe_ even though he doubted he would ever again. He knew it wasn't Red, he felt every touch as it left a faint tingling sensation on his skin even through the uniform, he wasn't the one.

Robin now sure it was Rancid who had slipped him the mark his detective nature immediately screamed at him to research it, but the pull towards his bed was greater. He just didn't have the energy to stare at a computer screen and he wanted a clear mind for find and seek.

Slipping his mask back on and some night wear he hid the paper in one of his draws, tucking it in a book, disguising it as a bookmark until tomorrow. He fell back onto his bed and prayed for an easy night. Sleep had never been more welcome.

Red X

_Oh God._ Slade himself was currently standing in front of him, his huge bulk had covered Red's view on the Goth but he could still here the whimpers. He was sending Rancid into a state with just his very presence, what he was doing here Red didn't know, but now things had gotten a lot more interesting.

"Y..you can't be here. Y..y…your dead." Rancid's stammer spoke truth. Last he heard the guy had fallen in an underground volcano after the Titans tried to rescue an earth wielding girl. Though there had been whispers a couple of months ago of a fire demon plaguing the Titans and destroying an old part of the city. A fire demon that some had said looked remarkably like the dead mastermind.

Slade only chuckled darkly. "I made a deal with the devil." That statement didn't surprise Red, Hell probably spat him back up…

"What do you want?" The stammer had disappeared but Rancid's voice still sounded small and pathetic. Slade paused for a moment before taking a step forward causing the Goth to press his back against the wall, his eyes wide and that cocky attitude thrown out the window.

"I want you to tell me everything that happened before you met with Robin. Including an answer to Red X's question." The warning laced with that answer was loud and clear and Red could imagine that one eye narrowing and Red stepped to the side to see Rancid nodding obediently.

"This guy in black robes…"Red silently snorted, _that doesn't sound suspicious_. "Told me he'd give me five thousand dollars if I…"

Slade leaned forward, "If you _what_ Rancid?"

The dark teenager gulped. "If I take Robin's virginity."

**_What the hell!_** Red's eyes widened and then he clenched his fists. What kind of low down, rat face, piece of shit would want the Leader of the Titans **raped!** If he ever got his hands on…

"Why?" Slade's question tore the thief out of his thoughts and he stole a glance at him. He seemed unaffected by Rancid's answer, but he did notice that death glare.

"I don't know. He gave me a paralysing agent, told me where Robin was going to be, to slip his a piece of paper into his uniform and no questions asked. Then I would get my money."

"What was on the paper?"

"I don't…" Rancid was then grabbed by the collar and slammed into the wall with a loud **thunk.** "I swear! I wasn't allowed to look! I just did what I was told!"

There was another slam and Slade growled. "Have you been given the money already?"

Rancid shook his head desperately. "No, he was going to send it in the post."

Slade dropped the Goth as if he was diseased and stepped away. "Your usefulness has ended and my patience has gone."

Realising that he was going to die, the teenager through himself at the mercenaries feet.

"You can't kill me. I'll do anything!" Red looked at the form in disgust, he may not agree on killing but he held no pity for the worm on the floor. He had hurt Robin, and there was no forgiveness for that.

Slade kicked the whimpering mutt to another corner of the room and then turned to the thief. "I presume you know how to get into the Titan's tower."

Red blinked, not expecting that. "Yes."

Slade nodded. "Go in, find Robin and find out what was on that paper. I believe it holds a message."

Not wanting to say no to a pissed off assassin and the fact he wanted to find out more about this he quickly agreed. "What are you going to do?"

"I have a mongrel to exterminate and then I have some research of my own." With that he began to walk towards his prey, which had stupidly grabbed a bat to try to defend himself. While Red X was already jumping across rooftops in the crisp cool night. On his way to find a bird and figure out who had done this; and away from the bloodbath that was soon going to be Johnny Rancid. He only hoped that Robin didn't find out about this, he would have a fit if he found out. Red smiled at the fact he was going to see Robin again, their meetings were always something to remember.

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**It's another short one but the plot is thickening.**

**Tell me what you think! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning. There will be slash! Don't flame me because you have all been warned! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Teen Titans. Don't sue me. **

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The security at Titans Tower was ingenious and difficult, something that the thief was always grateful for when reaching his goal. What was the fun in breaking a lame system that only took a couple of seconds to dismantle before grabbing what wasn't his? Red had quickly learned that the harder it was to get to his prize the more satisfied he felt at the end. And the ever present rush of adrenaline was welcoming and sent his mind soaring with the success of the heist. The thrill, that was what he lived for. 

The cybernetic teen had talent, X could give him that, however as proved from when the thief had first stolen the Red X suit, nothing was impenetrable. It only took time and patience, mixed with X's proud skill and experience, before the code was cracked and sticking to the shadows Red was able to slip into the tower unnoticed and undetected.

The normally lively tower was now cold and silent in the dead of night. All occupants having made their way to their beds long ago, doors shut and locked and only the soft hum of the computer systems could be heard as Red X made his way through the halls. His footsteps were non-existent as he darted from hall to hall, re-awaking memories of the towers building structure and floor plan. Before he had only needed it for the vault room for where the suit was kept. Now he had to remember where a certain bird's nest was, as he could easily get lost in these ever winding hallways and many rooms.

After an agonising ten minutes of searching he came across a door with a welcoming 'Robin' etched onto the door itself. _This looks promising…_Red mused silently.

With a push of a button the door swished open revealing the prize Red had been looking for, fast asleep on his bed.

Robin

_Darkness. It swirled around him with cold brutality and cruel suffocation. Never yielding or breaking away no matter how much he willed it to. He was alone, this harsh nothing making him shiver whether from the cold or fear he did not know. While he waited the atmosphere changed and he knew that something was going to happen. _

_Suddenly a black tendril shot up from the nothingness and twisted itself around his arm. Alarmed Robin struggled and tore at it, trying desperately to escape from its frightening clutches. Then another sprang up and latched itself on his waist and another securing his other arm before bringing the boy to his knees. Robin was then roughly twisted around and slammed cruelly onto his back, more squid like tentacles wrapping themselves around the boy's naked flesh, physically trapping him down onto the hard ground._

_He struggled widely, muscles tensing and straining, his breath coming in short raspy breaths and sweat trickled down his brow. He could not escape, and fatigue quickly forced his movements to slow and weaken, saving his energy he relaxed drawing in valuable oxygen and sighed in frustration. _

_Then the familiar sound of footsteps alerted Robin to another presence. They were even, quiet, like the sound of a hunter stalking it's prey; and when his eyes were covered by yet another black tendril, Robin panicked slightly, knowing that someone else was there. While he was such in a vulnerable position, tied naked to the floor. _

_Then when the boy feared the stranger was almost upon him the footsteps stopped, however he could feel the looming shadow and the strange familiar presence that had disappeared some time ago…_

"_Batman?" Robin breathed, hoping that it was and for his mentor to help guide him back to the light._

"_You failed me Richard." That nasty accusation sent terrified shocks through the boy's spine, and Robin could place that voice from when the Bruce had declared that he could no longer wear the costume._

"_No, please. I'm sorry. I…"_

"_That's not good enough." Whatever pleas Robin was going to make were cut off by the harsh voice. "You've failed me too many times. I can no longer help you."_

"_Bruce please. I didn't mean to get shot and the Titans…"_

"_You've failed them too Robin. How can you save the city when you can't even save yourself?"_

_Robin drew in a sharp breath. Those words…_

"_You don't deserve to be a leader." Each statement cut through Robin's heart like a knife. "You don't deserve to be my partner." Batman bent down, the darkness disappeared from Robin's eyes and then a hand ripped away his protective mask. Revealing shattered blue eyes. "And you don't deserve to be my son."_

_Then the Dark Knight stood up and turned away, disgusted by the boy. "You're just a dirty little slut" Robin couldn't believe it, tears collected at the corner of his eyes, and the look the dark vigilante gave him felt like a punch to the stomach. "Just a toy to used and thrown away." Then Batman faded away only to be replaced by a face that he never wanted to see again. _

"_Hello Bird Boy." A hand was suggestively stoking the inside of his thigh. "Ready for round two?"_

_Robin struggled widely, screaming in protest. "No. No! NO!"_

"Robin!" A gloved hand covered his mouth preventing his screams from alerting the other Titans while his other hand held the struggling teen down, stopping him from hurting himself. "Calm down!"

Realisation dawned into those masked eyes and when Red felt those tense muscles relax he stepped away, removing his hands.

Robin sat up in his bed, looking around his room, drinking in the familiar surroundings calming his erratic emotions. _It was only a dream. Rancid's not here. Only a dream._ He chanted mentally to himself, regulating his breathing and relaxing his body. He opened his eyes then immediately became aware of the other unexpected presence in the room.

"Red X! What are you…!"

"Shhhhhhh!" Red insisted desperately. "Keep quiet."

Robin looked up at the intruder, questions buzzed in his mind and he became defensive, he jumped and landed softly on the other side of his bed.

"What are you doing here?" Robin hissed angrily. Cursing the thief mentally for breaking Cyborg's security again.

Red paused before answering. He had been more worried at finding his way into the tower and to Robin's room to even consider thinking of the conversation they were likely to have. He didn't know how to answer that properly without giving too much information away, and knowing boy detective he would figure out everything with just a hint of the answer.

"Looking for you." Red answered the only way he knew how comfortably. With a sarcastic snap.

Robin blinked, and then growled angrily. Frustrated at the nerve of the thief.

"I know that. Now what do you want.?"

Red could see Robin loosing patience quickly, the teen never really had any of it anyway.

Knowing that an aggressive verbal attack wasn't going to get him anywhere, Red relaxed his body posture to appear more friendly and approachable. Hopefully that will get Robin to follow suit.

"I wanted to know if Rancid handed you a piece of paper during your…err…attack."

Surprised, Robin fell out of his defensive stance. Of all the things that X could have asked Robin hadn't expected that in the slightest. Then something dawned on him.

"How did you find out about the paper?"

Red didn't miss the suspicion in the voice nor the confused look on Robin's face. Well at least he knew that there was a piece of paper. Well, now all he had to do was explain…

"Rancid told me after I went to go and see him, he was bragging about this high payment or something and I…"

"You saw him after! He was bragging! There was a payment! Who!"

During Robin's screaming fit he had marched over to Red X standing directly in front of the bemused thief, his face inches from his own. Expression twisted into fury and disgust.

"Tell me everything, I need answers!" Robin was furious.

"Listen!" Red X hissed desperately. Trying to prevent the volcano from erupting. "Rancid was paid by someone he or I don't know. He was the one who gave Rancid that agent and told the Goth to where you were. It was only till after Slade…" As soon as X said the name he knew he had made a mistake. The colour drained from Robin face and shock had immediately replaced his wrath. "Kid?"

_No. No. No._ This can not be happening. Slade cannot know about this. No one can know about this. But Red X already did, now Slade did too. The thought sent shivers down his spine and were trapped at the base of his heart. _Of all the people that could know. The ones that meant more than just the title of criminal… _

"Kid you really need to relax. It's nothing to get worked up about."

But before X could say anymore Robin had grabbed the collar of the thief's uniform and slammed him against the wall with a **thud. **

"_Nothing to get worked up about?"_ The question was said in a low hiss that was forced through clenched teeth. Robin's fists were literally shaking in suppressed fury and his adrenaline levels rose with his anger. "What the hell were you thinking!"

Red X knew which situations ended in warranted retreat otherwise one would find oneself with many injuries and a bruised ego. This unfortunately was one of them. However Red couldn't retreat because he had a job to do. And if he didn't do it he was going to have a viscous mercenary on his tail and he really didn't want that. So he did the next reasonable thing possible. He flipped Robin around so he was now pinned against the wall, lifted the bottom half of his mask up and pressed the teen's lips against his own.

Robin was shocked into silence. All of his anger and hatred melted away within the soft pressure of those lips and he shuddered in pleasure, mouth opening to greet the intrusion of a tongue caressing his own. He moaned his response and he could feel the smile of the thief in response. Arms slithered around his waist and one travelled slowly up his back, stroking and exploring the new territory. Robin kissed back relishing the feel of the other teen and closing his eyes the bliss pleasure of the kiss.

Red was in heaven. The feel of the other boy against him was erotic and amazing. Tongues fought and played with each other and the need to breath became unimportant as Red ran his hands along Robin's body. Now instantly regretting the presence of gloves and uniforms. Nothing could spoil this moment and any rivalries were cast away along with unneeded thoughts and worries.

Suddenly a soft knock on the door and a quiet "Robin?" tore the two boys away from each other and dread slowly crept up Robin's spine. _Starfire._

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**Well there it is folks! Hope you all enjoyed that! **

**And as ever I would greatly appreaciate your reviews!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Here's the next chapter. Unfortunatly there is no Robin or Red X. Though there is a bit of slash. **_

_**We get to see new characters, and a bit of history to go with it.**_

_**Disclaimer:Don't own Teeen Titans, though I do own all OC's!**

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_

In a peacock tail of flames and sparks another house was brought upon the torment of the assailant. The villagers screamed in anguish as their homes were destroyed, and men clad in armour and positioned atop of proud horses charged forward to defend their families and loved ones. Smoke and ash obscured their view, spewed from the mouth of their great enemy, a powerful warrior created from legend with the fearful ability to change into a mighty dragon, whose roar echoes throughout the land and with one puff of flame could fell the mightiest of forests. Below him, stood his faithful followers, dressed in black suits of steel armour with the crest of the dragon etched onto their chests. Swords within their hands, sat atop mighty beasts that resembled wolves yet their eyes showed a lust for flesh and bone, they were created by the dragon and obeyed his every word.

_The warriors stopped, and waited for all of their allays to join them and form ranks, the crest of Alator showing a mighty phoenix was shown on their flags, and when their army had finally formed together, their leader Ju'had turned to face the great evil they had to vanquish. Great blue eyes stared into his own, the dark form of the great black dragon stood over his own warriors glaring at his enemy, each leader promising death and the dragons blood red markings glowed ominously. Then with a bone shattering roar the enemy charged forward, wolves snarling, swords blazing and arrows soaring. Then the men of Alator surged forward meeting them head to head in a clash of metal and fur. _

_The battle raged for hours, neither side yielding to the onslaught of the other, and bodies of animals and humans littered the ground, their blood soiling the earth and staining the grass. It wasn't until the two leaders finally met, that showed any sign of the battle stopping. The dragon took his human form, his tall menacing figure stood facing Ju'had and as he unsheathed his great sword his hissed a warning. _

"_Surrender now Ju'had and I might spare your life."_

_Unperturbed, Ju'had took his own sword and took a fighting stance, ready and waiting._

"_It is you Dragon that should be worried. You will pay for all those lives you took, it is your blood that will stain my sword and drip into the earth." _

_Those blue eyes narrowed dangerously as he looked upon his enemy._

"_So be it."_

_Then the two swords struck, clashing together again and again, sparks flew with force of the blows as they danced the ritual of death, both straining for victory and neither accepting failure. Then in a climatic turn of events the Alator leader lost his sword and Dragon's own was pressed lightly against his throat._

"_It ends here my fair prince; your death will mark the new ruler of these lands."_

_Unknowingly the prince slipped out a dagger from beneath his armour and he grasped it tightly in his hand. _

"_Forgive me Falcon."_

_Then the dagger was thrust into the dragon's heart, he roared in pain and dropped the sword, it clattered to the ground, at the same its owner fell. A red light escaped the fallen form, it took the shape of a dragon before flying into the masters sword were it will remain trapped until it is called once more. _

_Ju'had stood shakily and stumbled over to where his enemy lay, and he saw the life leaving those blue eyes, the same eyes he would forever get lost in, and now any trace of the dragon was gone, leaving his friend and lover behind._

"_Falcon, I am so sorry." He took his hand in his. "Please forgive me."_

_The dieing man smiled warmly, and tightened the hold on the hand, afraid to let go. _

"_You saved me Ju'had. Freed me from the dragon, there is nothing to forgive." Then he laughed silently, for the last time. "My fair prince."_

_With those last words his life slipped away, with it the end of the battle, victory went to the people of Alator. Yet as Ju'had stood tall and grasped his lover's sword in his hand he could only think what a hollow victory it was. _

The hooded figure gazed at the dragon sword in thought; if the scriptures were right a great power lay within this blade, one that he intended to claim and control. Yet, the scriptures also said that only the heir of Flacon Hungrave could wield this power. A pity that he could not claim it as his own, but there were ways around this unfortunate obstacle. Such as taking control of the heir, though to do that he needed to improve his ability of mind control. If he was anything like his mentor, the heir, now known as Richard Grayson, or Robin, the boy will be difficult to break.

A knock at his door interrupted his thoughts, he carefully placed the sword back into the glass container and then turned to face the door.

"Enter."

A red cloaked figure entered his chambers; it bowed low and muttered Master before straightening again and pulling back the hood revealing the face of a young brunette.

"What is it Elsa."

The answer was immediate. "Johnny Rancid is dead my lord."

He raised an eyebrow, this was unexpected. "How?"

"Murdered in his apartment. We do not know who, but someone skilled enough to hide their tracks."

The Master sat in a large chair and leaned back comfortably, fingers intertwined on his chest.

"Did Rancid complete his task?" The question was asked with a hidden threat, one that Elsa picked up upon easily.

"Yes my lord."

He inwardly relaxed. That was a vitally important piece in weakening the boys mind and making his soul easier to contaminate. "Very good. I want him watched at all times, tomorrow we will begin with phase two."

Elsa bowed low and turned to leave the room, her cape nearly floating behind her.

"Oh and Elsa?"

She paused, just before she opened the door.

"He is not to contact anyone outside the Titans. Is that understood?"

She nodded before leaving swiftly, quickly making her way to the others to give the orders. She cannot fail her Master, if she does, well, the consequences will be very painful.

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**Well there we go. Sorry it's short, it's just to clear up a few things about our new villain. **

**Reviews would be nice, they are very encouraging. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi guys! New chapter!**

**Discalimer: Don't own.**

"Friend Robin, is there something wrong? I awoke to screams." The banging on the door became more insistent, louder. If she hit any harder she would probably bring the door down, that or alert the other Titans. "Please, you must answer, I am most concerned."

Red gagged silently, the girl was pretty but she had no brain, and was far too naïve for anybody's liking. He hoped Robin found a way to get rid of her soon because that annoying voice was really starting too…

His trail of thought was interrupted when he was roughly grabbed by the upper arm and pushed, none to kindly, into the room's cupboard where he became acquainted with the rest of Boy Wonder's uniforms. "Hey!"

"Stay here." Was the warning growl and the thief was starting to get annoyed with all the orders he had been given lately. Though it's not like he had any choice…

The loud shriek confirmed when the bedroom door had slid open. "Robin! You are unharmed. I feared that you were in mortal danger when I heard the shouting. I am most pleased you are unscathed!"

_Mortal danger?_ Red wondered from inside the darkness of his cupboard. _In his bedroom?_

"I'm fine Star, really." Robin's voice sounded stained, fake. Imitating that of tiredness and complete innocence. "It was just a bad dream. I'm sorry I woke you."

"Oh that is most alright! Perhaps we can go and enjoy the luxury of the drinking of hot chocolate to, how do you put it, to chase those nightmares away!"

_Jesus Christ. _

"Err… no, Starfire. That's ok. You should go back to bed, it's late."

By some miracle the bubbly girl decided to take her leader's advice and after some way too cheerful goodbyes he could hear her leave the room, the door closing and that was his cue to finally re-enter the room. Only to find Robin rummaging through some draws, his back to the thief, and paying him no attention as Red strolled into the middle of the room.

Robin was currently thinking about that incident before Starfire had interrupted them. Now, he was _glad_ that she did. Just thinking about what they had done… He had sworn to himself not to get close to anybody, especially after Rancid had… he couldn't say it. But one minute they were arguing and the next they were _kissing_. At the time he wasn't thinking, Red X was just there, touching him and Robin was touching him back… Now he felt disgusted, not because it was Red but because it felt like Rancid all over again, and he would never let that happen again, never. He vowed to keep his distance, and make sure that X knew that he was no longer touchable. Because if Red came too close again, he didn't think he would be able to stop himself from throwing the thief out the window.

"Here." Robin handed Red the slip of paper, while X took it a bit bemusedly it didn't take him long to figure out what it was, and as he watched Robin cross the room to the cupboard and fetch himself one of his uniforms, he opened the so called 'message' and was surprised to see the dragon, the symbol, and those enchanting blue eyes.

He glanced up again and wasn't surprised to see Robin disappearing into the bathroom, but he defiantly heard the warning of 'not to touch anything' before the door was swiftly shut. Red snorted and thought it strange that Robin trusted him enough with the paper but not with any of his stupid possessions. It was a miracle on it's own that Robin trusted him at all. But maybe, like himself, Boy Wonder didn't really have a choice.

When Robin decided to finally make an appearance Red was sitting on his bed, still staring strangely at the drawing. "What do you think it means?"

Robin opened his laptop and sat at the desk, pushing aside the mountain of case files while reminding himself that he really needed to sort those out. "That's what we're going to find out." He said, voice devoid of emotion, removing himself personally, only looking at the facts and evidence so he could concentrate easier. Allowing his detective mind free reign over his thoughts with little distraction.

"What no slamming me into walls to extract information, and no, this is my case, there's the window, get out of my life?"

Robin growled under his breath. "No, you're in this now whether I like it or not. Besides you have to tell me what happened with Rancid, what you know, and how Slade is now involved." He said this without turning around and typing at the keyboard without any change in his voice pattern. It reminded Red too much of the Bat's voice, no matter how annoying he became the voice stayed the same.

"Oh." Was all Red could muster, because he really did not want to tell the kid, since any mention of Slade had caused a really nasty backache and he wasn't going to be happy about the request of rape Robin so he could loose his virginity. Even though the last scuffle they had ended up with Red's tongue in Robin's mouth, but he seriously doubted the kid was going to let him do _that_ again.

"Well?"

Once again not really having a choice, Red told Robin everything of the encounter. Throughout it all the kid stayed silent, still staring at the screen even though he was no longer typing, most likely because he too busy trying not to erupt in anger. All the while Red became increasingly worried for his health, since Robin reminded him of a balloon being blown up to a point so great that it just bursts. And when Red X had finished the kid remained silent far too long, whether that was good or bad he didn't know.

"Did Slade tell you what type of research he was doing?" His voice was steady and barely above a whisper.

"No. Just 'took care' of Rancid." Red waited for the explosion.

There was none. He just pursed his lips together, snuck a glance at the tense thief then returned to his work. No screaming, no fighting and certainly no beating Red X into a pulp.

Red blinked and thought that maybe the kid had some patience after all.

"What are you doing now?" He finally asked, ready to say anything to break the awful silence that had settled between them.

"I'm going to find out what that symbol means. I don't recognise the dragon, but what it's wrapped around…" He trailed off, searching through different internet sites at a speed that X found nearly impossible to keep up with, and he wondered how Robin was able to read anything that fast. "I thought it was Egyptian, but it doesn't look right. Perhaps Aztec… no… maybe…" Robin then continued to list the possible origins of the symbol, mentioning different groups and old civilisations he had never heard of before. He felt useless and strangely out of his league when he saw the kid reading internet sites in other languages, some that Red didn't recognise.

"Why don't you ask that Goth friend of yours? You know the dark chick in the leotard. I snuck a glance in her room once; she really needs to consider redecorating." Robin raised his eyebrows in not knowing what Red was getting at. "I also saw all the books she has, and she seems the type of person to know about all of this stuff."

Robin refrained from shaking his head at the mention of 'stuff' but he did have a valid point. Even though he really didn't want anyone else involved with this, and if Raven found out about who was already involved and why, he didn't know how long he would remain leader and if she would ever talk to him again. He sighed and nodded while Red looked pleased with himself at being helpful while trying to look indifferent at the same time.

"Your right." No matter how hard it was to say that. "One of Raven's books could shed light on…" Then something clicked. He paused halfway from getting out of the chair while staring wide eyed at the symbol. He did recognise it; it was from a book, but not one of Raven's, one of his.

"Kid? What now?" Then X was considerably shocked when Robin pushed past him and threw open his cupboard door before Red could utter another word.

"I know where that symbol is from. It's Romany." Robin, or Richard Grayson was half Romany, from his father's side. When he was little he and his parents used to visit his Grandfather a lot, even though he was only _half_ and others outcast him because it was against their code for him to even _exist_ his Grandfather hadn't cared. He remembered his mother always complaining about the narrow mindedness of his father's family for turning their backs on them because he had married her and gave birth to Dick. Though she did love her father-in-law.

When his parents had died, his visits to his Grandfather's house had decreased. Since he didn't have time with training and school, and that Bruce couldn't go because he didn't speak a word of Romany and he didn't like Dick going on his own. Yet, only a few weeks ago his Grandfather had died, forcing Dick to leave the Titans for awhile to go to the funeral. Surprisingly to him, and to the horror of the rest of his so called 'family', he had been left everything. Including a surprising amount of money and a house full of old books, family heirlooms and even old weapons his Grandfather had said had been used in a great war long ago. Most of his things were still at the house, yet to be sorted through but a certain book had caught his eye. It was full of history, legend and myth. Yet Robin remembered seeing that exact symbol within the pages when he had skimmed through it on the plane journey back. And when he lifted it from its hiding place from underneath the floor in his cupboard, newly settled dust spew forth and Red X seemed extremely intrigued.

"Where did you get that, a car-boot sale?" Red said while he eyed the dusty covering, faded pages and torn edges.

"No, it was my Grandfathers." Then Robin inwardly winced at the slip up and wondered why he had told the thief that.

Red seemed to be oblivious to the personal information that Robin had told him, something that was rarely done even with his friends, and continued to eye the book warily, as if was some sort of dark spell book and that if you opened it you would be cursed for a hundred years.

"So that symbol is in there?"

Robin nodded and opened the book to the right page, then pointed to the said symbol.

"Yes. See."

"What does it mean? 'Cause unlike you I don't read Romany."

Robin ignored his dry tone and began to read out what the symbol represented.

Raven

She had been feeling uncomfortable all night. Like some dark force had settled around the city, tugging at her magical aura, warning her of death's shadow and of the fading light. She remembered she had felt the same way the night before her prophesy had been finally announced and Slade had come to warn her that she could not escape her destiny. Though this time, this had nothing to do with the re-birth of Trigon, nor, possibly, the end of the world. But instead of a great power soon to awakened, and unfortunately it had begun when Robin first stepped into the Tower.

**There you go. Reviews are always welcome, you know that they keep me going.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi guys. Sorry about the late update, college has been demanding and my social life has been calling. **

**I would like to point out a mistake that a lovely reviewer pointed out to me, the language is called Romanian, not Romany, so sorry about that. I'll be remembering that in the future!**

**Disclaimer:No not mine.**

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"_The Dark Flame was the name given to a terrible warrior who ravaged the lands with little mercy and with the power to summon dead creatures from the underworld. He gave himself the name Dark Flame after discovering the power to wield black fire and had his trade mark symbol carved onto his sword. _

_Later, it was discovered, that he had the ability to change into a mighty dragon at will. With his power he believed that he could rule an ancient land called Alator, he would of succeeded if it wasn't for Prince Ju'had who killed him in a final battle, it was also believed that the two were in a secret relationship before Falcon Hungrave took up the identity of the Dark Flame…" _

"Weird."

Robin could only nod in agreement. At least the book had explained the meaning of the symbol that stood for some ancient evil warrior that could change into a dragon and could do other things… He glanced at the paper he had been given. But why had they given him this? Someone who had gone to all the trouble of hiring Rancid to hand the paper over with the added bonus of him being raped…He shook his head, what also bugged him was the fact that he had the book with this explanation in it, a book that he had been freakily drawn to and the page mapped out in his mind. Coincidence? After what he had seen in his short life? I think not.

So there was only really one word to describe this situation, and Red X had supplied it neatly for them both.

"What do you think?" Red asked after an annoying amount of silence had come between the pair.

"That whoever hired Rancid knew I had this book, and to know that he must have known I got it from my Grandfather's house, and to know that.."

"He must know your secret identity." X finished for him. He admitted he was slightly freaked out by this, and the fact some evil guy who dresses in a black cloak knew boy wonder's face, before he got the chance to find out himself. He had always wanted to know what the colour of Robin's eyes were.

_Damn._ Robin thought angrily. Though he couldn't be hundred percent sure that was the case, the guy could've thought that with Robin's superior amount of resources he would find out eventually, or with the Towers residential Goth library, Raven could've had the answer. Unfortunately he couldn't ignore the terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach suggesting otherwise.

"I say we find more about this Falcon guy." Red suggested, eager to do something productive. "And about this Alator place, surprisingly I don't recall the name ever coming up in one of my history lessons."

"It was a place in Europe on the outskirts of Romania; it was divided then split up into some of Europe's countries today."

Red X paused then raised an eyebrow under his mask, turning to look dumbfounded at the boy wonder.

Robin coughed distractedly. "My Grandfather kept me well informed of our ancestor's history."

Red kept his humoured gaze at the teen for a few seconds longer before turning towards Robin's door. "The guy seems to know a lot, we could've used his help."

Robin nodded sadly, if he was still alive Dick Grayson would be around there right now away from the city for one of his yearly visits, away from his friends, away from the crime and away from any possibilities of being raped.

"Where are you going?" Robin commented when he saw the thief slide through a half open door.

"To do some of my own research." Was the reply from down the hall, the form already leaving the Tower heading back into the city.

Robin scowled but let him go, knowing it was too late to catch him. _Anyways_, Robin thought before deciding he would wake Raven up and seek her advice; _I too have research to do._

An abandoned warehouse in the business district of Jump City. 

The sound of dripping water from an unknown source and the occasional sound of scurrying rats were the only things that Red X could hear, his footsteps were deliberately silent and his breathing was quiet and even.

_Why do all villains use old warehouses as their base?_ Red thought as he gazed around the enclosure distastefully. _What's wrong with a warm basement or even a luxury hotel room or something? _

"Red X." The thief nearly jumped a foot in the air in fright after hearing his name spoken in a grave voice. He swiftly spun around and came face to face with Deathstroke, literally. His Slade uniform gone replaced with a more brightly lit uniform, keeping the orange but discarding the black for a rich blue. Red could only stare and Slade answered his silent question.

"I wanted to make sure our adversaries knew who they were up against."

Red nodded in understanding. Deathstroke the Terminator was much better known than Jump City criminal Slade, and with that overly large sword on his back it added to the unwelcome unease that situated around him.

"Did you retrieve the paper?"

X's hand immediately darted to the belt where he had stored Rancid's message, he figured Robin wouldn't miss it…much.

He handed it over with annoyance at being ordered around. The man may be an assassin but Red X hardly listened to authority. Then he proceeded to explain the meaning of the symbol curtsey of Robin, and he included the boy wonder's talents with languages, you never know what information could be useful in the future.

"So." Red X started after watching Slade stare at the paper taking in the information Red supplied for him. "What did you find out?"

Slade's eye left the symbol and rested on Red X's form and the thief wondered if Slade would hit him for daring to ask the question. Not like that would stop him.

"The name of the cultural group that I've now confirmed with the presence of this symbol." He stalked over to a set of computers that were hidden in the shadows before the lights switched on. "Though I am in the dark about their intentions and their involvement with Robin. This character Dark Flame, I know to be some sort of authoritive figure that they worship, or his power anyway."

"I thought he was murdered, a very long time ago."

Slade glanced back at the teen before typing in some commands onto the computer. "He was, but legend says that he kept his power safe within his sword, only to be unlocked when within the grasp of his heir."

The computer suddenly came alive and the screens showed images of Titan tower, including scenes from inside.

"You have camera's in their!"

Slade chuckled darkly at Red's surprise, and answered by showing live feed from Robin's room, who, at the moment, was collecting up books and files and placing them in a box before walking out of the door. _Wait._ Red thought desperately. _If he has camera's there then he must've seen…_

Red X's fears were confirmed when Slade rewinded back to half and hour earlier showing X holding Robin against the wall, though the angle didn't allow their faces to be seen it was horribly obvious to what they were doing.

Slade switched it off and turned slowly to the scowling teen waiting for an explanation.

Red continued to scowl. "You have a camera in the boy's bedroom I'm not surprised if you watch him undress. Not that I would blame you."

Slade stared at him for a moment longer before nodding in understanding, telling Red X that he was not the only one who desired the Teen wonders affections.

Raven's room

She couldn't sleep. That terrible feeling still hadn't subsided, and the desire to visit Robin kept on growing. What worried her is that whatever forewarning her magic had given her it gave no clue as to what she should be worried about or what to do about it.

At least with her father she knew what was going to happen and the invebility of it all was scaringly comforting to this aching unknown that had settled around her senses.

Finally after debating with herself for awhile she decided to wake the boy wonder up, ignoring the warnings that had told her that he needed privacy and sleep, a fact that she told the other Titans, and she got up and floated tiredly to the door, the lack of sleep taking away her ability to be graceful.

However the door opened on its own accord and to her surprise the very person she had been seeking was now standing outside her door, carefully holding a box full of papers and books.

He too looked surprised at Raven standing there, however he recovered a lot quicker than Raven could and smiled awkwardly.

"I'm glad you're awake. I have a couple of things to discuss with you."

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**There another chapter over. That stuff about Alator is completly made up, for the purposes of this story, so just pretend that it existed, an AU if you please.**

**More action next chapter, hopefully it won't be as boring and things will start to kick off soon!**

**Reviews are always wanted and welcomed, so just give that little puprple button a press if you please.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here we go guys, a new chappie!**

**I'm not sure if it's as exciting as I promised it to be but things of our characters are revealed.**

**Disclaimer:Don't own teen titans. Damn.**

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Beastboy had learned quickly that if you didn't get into the bathroom before Starfire in the morning you wouldn't be able to enter it until the afternoon, and afterwards the smell of scented soaps would hit his nose like a raging tornado and he could almost faint from that alone. For days afterwards the only thing that his poor sensitive nose could smell was peach and strawberries. So Beastboy made sure that he rose early, something that others were surprised about though he didn't know why, and got into the bathroom before his Tameranian friend.

Unfortunately this morning his alarm clock decided it didn't want to work.

"Please Starfire! I really need to go!" The teen hopped hopelessly from one foot to the other to help suppress his natural needs. "Please!"

"I am sorry friend Beastboy I will be out in a minute!" BB knew that one minute meant like five, and he couldn't hold it in for that long. He spotted the plant a few feet away from the door, he remembered Cyborg's warning if he ever did it in there again but this really was an emergency. He decided changing into a dog would be best this time since he found out there were cameras in the hall. In dog form he lifted his leg and with surprising good aim let nature rain down on the unfortunate plant.

Feeling much better the dog sniffed the air happily to see if Cyborg had started breakfast, the smell of the other Titan members greeted his nose and…hold on a second. A familiar yet foreign scent lingered in the air, running through the halls and on the floor below him. He tried to place it; it was strong, fresh, probably from last night. As he followed it he quickly realised it was a person's scent, someone he had met before. It led from outside the Tower right into, he paused at the door, Robin's room?

Had Robin brought a chick back last night? It would explain him turning away Starfire, but wait…no…it was defiantly male. He didn't think Robin had it in him anyway. Whoever it was they weren't in the tower anymore, and they couldn't have stayed long since, well, everyone went to bed late and one of the Titans would've noticed a stranger in the Tower.

He sniffed again, now getting frustrated at the fact he couldn't place it. It smelled…smelled, like…like…Xenothium? Yes! That was it! To show his happiness the dog did a miniature dance of happiness that would put Starfire to shame, until the implications of what he found actually settled down into his brain.

It was Red X. Red X was in the tower, in Robin's room, after Robin came home late last night all suspicious like. What that thief was doing here Beastboy could only hope to know, but instead of jumping to conclusions he'd be the detective and work this out like a true Sherlock Holmes. But since he didn't know where to start he'll go ask Cyborg.

Breakfast was something of a specialty to the robotic teen, so was lunch and dinner but he wasn't the one to brag. He could make the most delicious meaty fry-up that even got Robin out of the gloom and doom of his study. Unless a certain green teen decided to ruin it with something as ridiculous as tofu. Speaking of that little demon…

"CYBORG!" Beastboy came running ungracefully into the room, shouting at the top of his lungs and successfully gaining his friends attention with whatever piece of news his friend could find interesting.

"Cyborg! Cyborg! Guess what!"

"Listen if it's about that nest of spiders in the garden I don't want to..."

"No dude, its way better and far more serious than that, though those spiders were pretty cool."

Cyborg raised an eyebrow, serious and Beastboy didn't mix. "Get on with it BB."

"Red X was in the Tower last night."

He was defiantly not expecting **that**. He dropped his spatula and turned of the stove. Breakfast could wait. "Are you sure?"

Beastboy nodded eagerly. "I picked up his sent." He stood proudly at his great accomplishment. "It lead from outside to Robin's room, then back again."

Cyborg's eyes widened. "Robin's room?"

Beastboy nodded again, though this time it was reluctantly. They both remembered Robin's betrayal; he said it was a mistake, but what of this time?

"Well, instead of confronting our leader lets gets some evidence first." Cyborg smiled at BB's confused expression. "We'll look at the security tapes."

Beastboy smacked his head and laughed. "Dude why didn't I think of that!?"

"That's what I'm here for." They both made their way over to the main computer, Cyborg typed in a few codes while Beastboy hovered around him, watching wearily at all the buttons he was pressing. He never really understood computers.

"Robin I…" She trailed off; she didn't know what to say. She felt a blinding anger and a surpassing sorrow for her friend that intertwined with each other, leaving her speechless. It wasn't the first time Robin had come into her room, it was gradual, but they would have talks and reveal things to each other to help get things off of their chest. They exchanged childhoods, sorrows, moments of happiness, and not long ago identities. She knew he was called Dick Grayson, and Batman was Bruce Wayne. It wasn't hard, once you have one you have the other.

But now, what he had told her. She had asked for everything, and he had given it.

"I just don't want your pity." His voice was surprisingly strong, though she knew how strong he could be.

"The bastards lucky he's dead, or I would've killed him myself." She paused and noted Robin's surprised reaction. "You know I don't blame you, whatever you think my view of you hasn't changed. In fact it's gotten better. You're the strongest person I know, Richard, don't let Rancid ruin your life."

Robin didn't say anything, he looked away from Raven's face, knowing what she said was true but just couldn't believe. He took a firm grip on his emotions and shook them within reason. He could wallow in self-pity later; right now there were bigger things afoot.

He pointed to the open page of the book. "Who do you think these people are?"

"Dead, when I next see them." She noted Robin's warning glare. "I know of one group that worships this Dark Flame. They aren't well known but their leader is rumored to be very powerful in mind magic." She paused trying to gather her thoughts. "I believe they await the arrival the heir of Falcon Hungrave, I remember something about a sword and that they think this heir will lead them into power."

Robin leaned back on the bed where he and Raven were sitting. He was right to come to her, she had seen and heard a lot of things that dealt with magic and rituals. Though it was annoying and rather surprising that she didn't have any books on the Dark Flame and his heir. He noticed Raven was staring at him. "What?"

"Why do you think they came after you." He noticed it wasn't really a question; it was more of a suggestion or a statement.

"I don't…" He paused then realization sunk in. "You think I'm the heir?" His disbelief evident in his voice.

Raven nodded, though she didn't look happy. "Yes. Why else would they go after you? That paper, which I would've liked to have seen if it wasn't for Red X." Robin had the decency to look a tad ashamed at letting him steal it. "Was meant to show you your future. What you are going to become. Unfortunately, the act of rape, especially to a virgin, greatly weakens the purity of your soul. It makes it easier for corruption to blacken it, and anyone with the ability with mind magic can easily take control."

Robin sat forward again, suddenly feeling very tired. "So the leader is trying to take control of my mind."

"Once you received your powers from your ancestor. Did your Grandfather say anything about this to you?"

Robin shook his head sadly. "No, now though when I look at it. I think he knew I was Falcon's heir. All those stories, morals and teaching me how to guard my mind. Then leaving me everything when he died. Somehow knowing I would find this book."

He ran a hand through his soft hair, unable to gel it up after Red X. "If I am the heir, what am I going to do?"

Raven shifted uncomfortably, she didn't know either. They both knew they needed more information, and with the rising sun that shed light through the curtains of her room, it seemed that time was not on their side.

"Friends I don't understand. When I went to see Robin there was no one else there, just Robin." Starfire looked on confusedly; looking between Beastboy and Cyborg who seemed convinced that Red X was in Robin's room last night.

"He must have been hiding! Look," He pointed to the screen. "You see Red X entering at this time," he fast forwarded a bit "you came and left here, telling us that Robin was defiantly awake," he fast forwarded again "and then Red X left here, then ten minutes later Robin left to go to Raven's room. So whatever the thief was doing it was probably to talk to Robin, since no one can hide from him in his own room."

Beastboy quickly agreed. "Do you think they're starting a new evil organization and Robin went to recruit Raven as his evil assistant?"

Even Starfire saw the ludicrously in that. "Robin is our friend, he would not betray us. Not even with Slade. Perhaps he is the one recruiting Red X as a new member of the team, perhaps Red X is now good."

Cyborg shook his head, her optimism could sometimes go a little too far. "No Starfire, something fishy is going on here and I want to find out what." He began pacing around the room, with the two younger teens watching him. "First he comes back late, and Raven tells us to back off. Second Red X pays him a late night visit, and then who does he go straight to? Raven. They're hiding something, but I don't know if it's a good idea to confront them or not."

"Of course it is!" Beastboy practically shrieked. "We have the right to know what they're planning, especially if it involves a criminal. It's our jobs!"

Cyborg looked at Beastboy sternly. "You know how secretive those two are, and how much they value privacy. If Robin's getting in over his head again Raven will sort it out. I don't doubt their loyalty, not after the Brother Hood of Evil."

Starfire bounced happily. "You see Beastboy, there is nothing to be concerned about."

"I didn't say that." Cyborg's comment cut of her happy tirade. "I think we should ask them about it." At Beastboy's smug expression he added "but no accusing anyone of anything, let them explain. Innocent until proven guilty."

Beastboy agreed while Starfire nodded enthusiastically, she too wanted to know why they had the unwelcome guest last night. When they heard the swoosh of opening doors all three teens turned to look at Raven and Robin who had just entered the room.

He couldn't believe it. Robin the heir? He had to admit the kid was good at fighting, he fought with a ferocity and a matching gracefulness that could only come from a master. In his fights he danced, you could watch him for hours. But to be the heir of a powerful ancient meta? No, he couldn't believe it.

He had also found out from watching the footage from Raven's room, that the boy wonder's name was Richard. A confirmation from Slade told him that the mercenary knew his whole name but he wasn't telling tales. Still, it was something, bringing him closer to finding out who lay under that mask. He had to wonder if Robin pondered about his identity as much as Red X did. If he found out would he be disappointed?

Red wasn't that special, if you looked him up you would see he would be reported missing. There wasn't any major angst in his life. Yes he was an orphan, a run away from the foster programme after he got frustrated with it. Yes he learned to live on the streets from a young age, finding a teacher to learn how to fight and steal to survive then to live in luxury. But he wasn't raped, beaten or ever saw a great tragedy. He was sad that his parents died, but he was four, they died in a fire and he was away at a friend's house. He was too young to comprehend anything, only that after nine years in the foster system you had to get out or you go crazy.

He asked Deathstroke about the kid's past, he was given an amused glance then told to ask Robin himself. He mentioned that Slade hadn't done that, and had nearly gotten a smack for the comment. You could only push a mercenary so far, and Red knew he was really annoying when he wanted to be.

He sighed and stretched on his bed in his more than comfortable flat. He was told to get some sleep then report back when called, after being given a communicator. He felt like some low down lackey and made sure that Slade knew they were equals in this. It was weird to know that Slade like Robin too, but not surprising. The kid really had a nice ass.

* * *

**Well, there you go. That stuff about Red X's past is all made up, his identity may become important in later chapters, but once I get my head around about where i'm going with this, I'll make that desicion.**

**If you would kindly review it would really make my day. And may make the update sooner.**

**Thanks to all of those who reviewed so far, I really appreaciate it.**

**Now hit that purple button!!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys,** **I finally have a new chapter, with thanks of the one and only Death Merchant. Who was my beta. Go read her fics, they rock.**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed, you don't know how much it means to me to know that people are reading and reviewing.**

**Anyways, here is the new chapter, enjoy!**

**disclaimer: Don't own. Never will.**

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Cyborg had heard some tales in his life. Heck, when he was little, he used come up with some pretty wacky ones to stay out of trouble. Beastboy's own fairytale concoctions always amused him; the green teen knew he couldn't lie to Cyborg, so when he did, he did it with style. Yet the story that had come from their leader had him completely stumped.

"So, let me get this straight. Some guy last night gave you a warning, in the form of a symbol, and Red X just happened to be there when you received it. Then he came to the tower and helped you discover what the symbol means, and you went to Raven who informed you that you very well could be an heir to this powerful evil dead guy?" He paused and looked at the accused teen. "Did I miss anything?!"

Robin frowned then shook his head. "No," was the simple answer.

Cyborg didn't believe it. There were too many pieces missing. Such as... "Why would Red X help you! He never has in the past, unless something affects him personally, which, according to this story, isn't the case. And why the heck did you not come to us first? You just went straight to your room, and even didn't bother to get us any food. Your story ain't adding up." He stopped in his rant to give Robin the time to answer, but Raven beat him to it.

"Listen, there are some things that you don't need to know. They are irrelevant to this case, and…"

"HEY, GUYS!!!" Beastboy's shout cut Raven off. He was sitting in front of the TV, waving them over and pointing to the news on the screen. "Check this out." He turned the volume up.

"…Rancid was found dead in his flat in the early hours of this morning. The known criminal had been on bail for only a week and was due to appear in court on Wednesday. The police are calling the death suspicious and are urging anyone with any information to come forward. In other news…" The newscaster was turned off.

The piece was short, nothing big, but enough to whiten Robin's skin. Raven looked at him with concern.

Robin himself did not know what to think. Was he happy that Johnny was dead? Or did it make him feel worse? Who actually killed him? Red X? No…he wasn't like that, and wouldn't have dared to come to the tower that night. Was the death completely irrelevant, or…Slade. The muttering of that name in his mind even created shivers down his spine, though whether they were good or bad, he didn't know. However, X had said that Slade knew what had happened…but what would he gain out off killing Rancid?

Perhaps Slade wanted information and Rancid wasn't forthcoming. Or perhaps he knew too much, and Slade perceived him as unnecessary threat.

Or perhaps it was revenge.

"Robin, do you not think that his death was most unfortunate?" Starfire's sad voice drifted through his thoughts.

"Yeah, Star." He sighed softly, his heart not into it. "I do."

* * *

"I wouldn't be surprised if he already knows." 

"I don't think that he is going to take this well." Red X pointed to a newspaper article that mentioned Rancid's death. According to Slade, Robin knew who killed him, but Red X knew the kid like he knew himself. There were differences, yes, but he certainly would be pissed off if his rapist was killed before he could do anything for revenge himself. Or in Robin's case, bring him to justice.

"He won't like it, but he will learn to live with it. As he knows he can do nothing about it." The mercenary turned back to the files he was looking through, effectively ending the conversation.

Red X nearly sighed in frustration. He thought the subject would have bought a longer conversation, as their 'talks' only contained a few sentences. It was entirely frustrating, and he was quickly getting bored. He half figured this might be a game of patience that the older man came up with, but considering he was used to living on his own, exchanging words with other people on an equal level would be rare for him. Or so he figured.

"I'm going to get breakfast, do you want anything?" Silence. "Fine." The thief growled under his breath. So much for being considerate. Yet, as he left, he could have sworn he heard...

"A black coffee and a bagel." Well, maybe the mercenary was human after all.

* * *

_The darkness pulsed through its very being, shadows stretched throughout the length of it, and all it felt was eerie nothingness. Then a spark of life and light ignited in the dark, like roots of life tendrils of colour weaved around its being. Darkness gave way to light and for the first time in nearly five hundred years it felt the calling of its master. The sound beat and moved the tendrils faster; it could feel it, the call. And now it ached to be within the grasp of its chosen, the only one who was worthy, the one who held it now was not, it could feel he had ill intent towards its master. The being flushed its anger and let it loose with all its fury. _

He dropped the sword with a quiet yell of surprise and it hit the floor with a loud clatter. He gripped his arm in pain as it pulsed with what felt like fire running through his veins. Despite the pain, he watched with morbid fascination as the sword glowed a deep red before fading slowly, leaving the stones engraved into the sword glowing that blood colour.

He wrapped his other hand in a part of his cloak and cautiously picked the sword up by its handle. He placed it back into its case, knowing that only Robin would be able to hold it with his bare hands, though even with that extra layer between his fingers and the hilt, he could feel the heat pulsing through. If he held on any longer the sword would have forced him away again. The one time was enough for him.

He leant back against his chair and inwardly smiled. This was the first true sign that the heir had returned, and it was the signal he had been waiting for. The sword only reacted like that when it felt the presence of its master, and it wanted to be with him. According to his research, the sword would begin calling out to Robin; not physically, but with subtle energy releases that would hopefully be the only thing needed to lure the Boy Wonder into his waiting grasp.

Unfortunately, he knew that would not be enough. The half demon would pick the signals up too, and prevent Robin from leaving. And with that unknown interferer who had killed Johnny Rancid, he could not take any risks.

He had sent his men on a mission to distract the Justice League while Elsa and her sister Bianca kidnapped one of the honorary Titans. He was positive that Robin would not be able to resist, and when he arrived and claimed his inheritance, the boy and his power would be his. He would confront the League himself, and destroy them once and for all. Revenge would be his.

* * *

"Friend Beastboy, what do you think Robin would like?" the red headed alien questioned, looking at the menu of some fast food restaurant that luckily still served breakfast at this time. 

Beastboy shrugged hopelessly, then scanned the menu again, hoping to pick something out that their leader would find satisfactory.

He was about to answer when an explosion was set off not long away, and the sound of screaming civilians forced the two teens into action. He quickly morphed into a cheetah to keep up with Starfire's relentless pace. Beastboy could here her communicator beeping and only caught the end of the conversation before it was turned off.

"We'll be there as soon as we can. Robin out."

Starfire's hands were already glowing that neon green when he had changed back, and when he spotted the two responsible for interrupting his breakfast, his first thought was "_creepy."_

Two women dressed in long black billowing cloaks stood atop a turned over bus, their attention now diverted from the fleeing civilians to the two super-powered teens challenging them on the ground opposite. The tallest women, with long brown hair, reached inside her cloak, pulling out what looked like a gun. She nodded to her companion.

"You distract the alien; I will capture the green one."

_Capture, eh?_ Beastboy thought, then smiled before turning into a tiger. _Not without a fight your not._ Then he lunged.

* * *

Robin had been feeling strange since early this morning. A deep worry had settled in the pit of his stomach, and the news of the explosion from Starfire only increased it. 

Whatever it was, it accompanied this strange need to be somewhere, but not knowing where only made him more frustrated. He hoped that the adrenaline that formed during a fight would distract him from this as he rode on his bike towards his two teammates' location. Cyborg and Raven were just behind him in the T-car. He revved the engine and basked in the promise of a confrontation; he needed to let off some steam, and a criminal thinking they could get away with setting bombs off in his city would have to do.

* * *

He only went to get breakfast, but in this city, doing something that simple would have to be disrupted by an explosion, wouldn't it? He sighed tiredly and jumped onto a rooftop, seeking the view he needed to see what idiot the Titans would be fighting next. He almost felt sorry for Robin, having all this crap to deal with, and then another wannabe criminal making it worse. Then again, Red X loved any excuse to watch the kid fight; how he moved and almost danced across the battle, defeating enemies with a skill that he had also mastered. Yet when he looked at what two of the Titans were facing, his eyes widened in shock. 

He took out the communicator that Deathstroke had given him and flipped it hurriedly open.

"You getting this, Slade?" he asked as he watched the black cloaked females' battle with the alien and a green bear.

"Yes, I want you to make sure you follow them after they leave if I'm not there first. I'll catch you up. Do not interfere." Then the line was cut.

Red seethed in anger and forced himself to stay where he was when he saw one of the women turn a dart gun on Beastboy. He would listen to Slade, for now.

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**Well there it is, as you can see everything is starting to move along.**

**I would like to thank Death Merchant again, she rocks.**

**Now all you guys have to do is review and this time I'll reply to as many of them as I can. It's just college takes up so much time...**

**If you review then the update might just be quicker!!! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Finally a new chapter up, sorry it took so long, but I finally have a week off from college so I have more time to do homework, so I have had time to do this. **

**Slade finally has his piece in this, his reasons are given for doing certain things...**

**Pieces off the chess board are moving and soon the real action will begin.**

**Discliamer: Unfortunatly I do not own Teen Titans but any OC's are mine! **

* * *

The place was a wreck. The smoking remains of broken vehicles littered the area, dumped or thrown into position from the fight, Robin guessed, between his missing teammates and the unknown enemy.

He and Raven were frantically trying to find their friends beneath the scattered rubble while Cyborg was desperately trying to contact them on their communicators.

"Come on BB! Starfire! Pick up!" Cyborg yelled at his arm, mimicking the frustration and worry Starfire once shown when trying call a missing Robin after the fight with Cinderblock. "Where are you?!"

Robin stepped over a large pile of jagged cement blocks that looked like it had come from a building to the right of him, if the giant hole in the side of it was any clue. He scanned the area in front of him, his keen eyes searching for any suspicion to what his friends had faced and where the hell they took off too.

A groan somewhere behind him caused him to swiftly turn around and watch as the side of the cement pile he just walked over burst open and a groggy Starfire stumbled out of it. Her hair was strewn all over her face and her usually well kept uniform was torn in several places. Her dazed green eyes settled upon him and Robin rushed over and caught her just before she stumbled forward and fell.

"Guys over here!"

Cyborg and Raven were immediately by his side as soon as they heard his frantic yell, and relief even showed on Raven's face at the sight at a bruised, but alive Starfire.

Robin gently lowered the red head into a sitting position onto the ground while Raven crouched next to her side, concentration evident on her face as black energy swirled beneath her fingertips healing Starfire's wounds. The girl smiled in contempt at the relief of pain the violet haired teen was giving her and she sighed in relief and thanked her immediately, though lacking her normal cheerfulness.

"Star." Robin said carefully as Cyborg helped her up, making sure that she could here him properly and so that her green eyes locked with his. "What happened?"

"And where's Beastboy?" The half robot added, after looking around and not seeing his green friend anywhere.

Starfire's bright eyes dimmed and she looked down on the ground. "I'm afraid I do not know where our friend is." She paused and looked up at the confused faces around her. "I believe he was taken."

"You mean kidnapped." Raven interpreted and Cyborg swore under his breath.

"Who?" Robin growled angrily, the thought that any criminal dared to kidnap one of his friends made his blood boil. "What did they look like?"

Starfire cocked her head to the side as if she was trying to remember. "There were two of them, both female." Her eyes narrowed in concentration. "But I couldn't make out any detail as they were both wearing long black cloaks."

Robin's blood froze, and his heart skipped a beat. "Black?"

Starfire nodded, not noticing Robin's distress. "Yes, and hoods over their heads so I could not see their faces." Her eyes once again drifted to the floor and Robin realized it was in shame. "I'm afraid that I underestimated their skill. They managed to overpower us with strange weapons and knock Beastboy out before I had time to assist him." Her eyes blazed with anger. "But I will not fail again! We will find friend Beastboy and do the kicking of the lower regions!"

The teens smiled briefly and but Robin turned away in worry as Cyborg corrected Starfire.

"Do you believe that these people are from the same group that have been causing you trouble." Raven's monotone voice drifted over the teens and Robin turned to see his teammates looking over expectantly, though Raven's face was creased with worry.

"I don't believe it." Robin said with conviction. "I know it."

Red X

He kept as silent as his training allowed him too, sticking to the darker areas of the small plane, where all the shadows melted into one and even the contrasting white of his suit could not be seen. Casual conversations leaked into his corner, and he was quickly becoming frustrated when none of the passengers talked about anything important.

Beastboy was locked up in a small cage, on the other side of the plane, surrounded by this blue glowing bubble, it sometimes sparked with white energy, the light dancing of it like lightening; and Red had a sneaking suspicion that if he touched it he would be nastily shocked.

"How long until we reach our destination." It was entirely annoying that none of the guards actually specified where the destination was.

One of the black cloaked females stretched lazily from her sitting position at the front of the plane, the guards eyes drifted involuntary to her curved shape and Red X tried not to snort from his corner.

"Ten minutes." The other female snapped angrily as she watched her sister getting undeserved attention. Bianca turned and smiled sweetly at Elsa, knowing that getting the guards attention would get on her nerves.

"Come on Elsa, did you see how easily we defeated those two super powered brats." She waved a lazy arm towards the cage. "And look at the prize we got. We are sure to be rewarded for capturing one of the heir's friends."

Elsa looked concerned for a moment, watching the sleeping teen warily before relaxing. "Yes you are right Bianca." Red X prided himself in already having this much information. "Our Master will be most pleased."

Any comment that Bianca was going to make was cut off when Beastboy began to stir and groan. Everyone watched as he sat up slowly and placed a hand against his head. "Aaww man. Did anyone get the license plate of the bus that hit me?" When no one answered Beastboy looked up confused and quickly took in the situation he was in. His eyes widened, and then he scowled angrily, quickly getting in a crouched position. Warily making sure he didn't touch the glowing bubble. Red X had to give the boy some credit for realizing that touching it wouldn't be a good idea.

"Where am I? Who are you? And what do you want with me?"

Bianca smiled sweetly, her head coming down at a tilt and she regarded the green boy as if he was some piece of unknown entity.

It was Elsa who answered the questions. "You are currently on your way to one of our American bases, so you don't have to worry about being taken out of the country." She paused and watched the hero's face relax slightly. "You don't need to know our names yet but soon we will become known to everyone on this planet, though I'm afraid you might be dead before that happens." Beastboy's green skin paled to a sickly colour. "However it is not you we want. You are merely bait for someone much more important."

"So you just sit tight like a good little doggy and we won't be forced to hurt you." Bianca leaned back in her chair and watched him intently. "Try changing, I want to see what happens."

Beastboy didn't move. Red X could see his mind trying to process the information and how much danger he was in. The Titan's eyes traveled to look at their outfits and stayed there. "Black cloaks…" He mumbled under his breath Red X had to strain to here it. "You're after Robin!" He cried in indignation as Beastboy put all of the clues together.

"Clever boy." Bianca whispered, her praise was anything but friendly. A deadly smile then formed on her face. "After all of this is over and his power becomes ours I might decide keep you as a pet."

"I'm nobody's pet." Beastboy growled dangerously then changed into a tiger to prove his point.

He roared in pain as the bubble suddenly flared to life, reacting to the teen's power and forcing the Titan to change back into his human form.

Bianca laughed cruelly watching eagerly as Beastboy recovered. "You sweet child, you are just too cute."

Red X looked at Beastboy in pity and realized with horror that everyone in this damned cult seemed to be pedophiles. It was Brother Blood all over again.

Unknown

Everything was going according to plan as he watched an unwilling Titan being shipped off the plane and looked at the computerized map that showed Robin's location.

He had deliberately left a tip to where they were located so that the Titan leader would find the base and walk straight into his trap.

The League still had no idea to what he was planning. He knew they had been keeping tabs on him since he had gotten out of prison, Batman especially, and victory would taste even sweeter on his tongue as Batman's own sidekick was taken under his control.

He watched the video feed that showed the fight scene between them and his super powered comrades. It was a small confrontation that he knew his allies would end up loosing. But after tonight he would free them and give them the pleasure of watching the league members being destroyed one by one. He smiled in sadistic delight at the promise of revenge.

He never saw the white, black and red clad figure emerging from the plane and disappearing into a suitable hiding place within his base.

Slade

He wasn't surprised at the location that the man had chosen as his base.

It was hidden well within the vast nothingness of desert and hard rock. The base was camouflaged as a series of rock formations, a common sight within this landscape. It left a lot of room for growth and the power explosion that he was sure was going to happen wouldn't attract attention as the only thing it would destroy would be shrubs.

He could admit to himself that it angered him that the man even dared to touch something that he had laid a claim to.

It was known throughout the villain community that Robin belonged to him, no one objected and no one dared to try.

He knew what he wanted from Robin, a desire for improvement, to use that potential that was as plain as day to make him into the warrior he knew was there. It was such a disgrace otherwise and even if Robin never joined his side he hated the fact that such talent would go to waste.

So instead of trying to force Robin into learning from him he did it without Robin realizing it. Sending out villains that Robin would be forced to improve on certain aspects of his game to beat. Improving his mind with puzzles and cryptic clues that never led back to himself, and all without ever showing his face.

Perhaps he did have an attraction to the boy like Red X had suggested. The teen was good looking enough and there was a dark lust of desire that was always there when he watched the Titan fight.

But that was as far as it went. It wasn't love, or just a sexual lust. But an odd feeling of protection when the boy got in over his head and jealousy when other people stepped too close to what was his.

But would he act upon it? Not now, not after what happened only a night or so ago. Perhaps when he was older, when the rage of father Bat wouldn't rain down of their heads because he wasn't old enough or too naïve to know what he was getting into.

He wanted full cooperation. He had known love once, which ended in three children and a lost eye. He was no rapist. He would never be.

When he finally claimed his bird it would be when it was the right time for the both of them and there would be no regrets.

If Red X was still around then, he knew he wouldn't mind sharing.

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**Hoped you liked it. It wasn't beta'd so if there are any mistakes I apologise. My e-mail is being wierd at the moment, reason for the no beta thing but any reviews (please be reviews) should come through fine. **

**So hit the button and tell me what you think!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Why yes, there is an update! **

**Thank you to all who reviewed last time, I didn't get back to all of you, but I'm determined to do that this chapter. If you don't have an account I'll reply in next chapter.**

_Disclaimer: _**I do not own. **

_

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_Its master was coming._

_It could feel it. His energy that sparked off hope for the power contained in the sword was drawing ever nearer. In the darkness that surrounded it new light began to grow, flexing, shifting and constantly changing as it **ached** for its master's presence._

_So it called._

_Bursts of tantalising and addictive energy, adding to the need its master already had. Beckoning, calling, screaming for him to come. To take and grasp what was rightfully his. _

_It new that whatever fate had install for its master they would be united tonight and in that undeniable truth it grew exited and its screams became more frantic. Come…come…come…**come.**_

_It was time._

Time was invaluable, priceless, ever changing but always staying the same.

It never stops, slows or increases.

It was always there. It was there at the beginning and will be there until the very end.

Yet, at that very moment, Robin new that time was not on his side. And what a powerful enemy he had against him.

The Titan's pursuers, the very people that had ordered his _rape_, the ones who had turned these last two days into hell had given him until one hour before midnight to arrive at the base and be there to collect Beastboy.

If not…then Beastboy wouldn't be alive to see the next day.

Robin growled in frustration and tightened his grip on the handles of his bike, revving the engine and putting on an extra ounce of speed. And watched as Cyborg matched his pace in the T-Car beside him.

Both Raven and Starfire were in the car, sitting along the backseats as Raven slowly mended the red head's injuries. Making sure she didn't use up too much of her power as she knew she would need it for the up coming battle.

Raven was going tear the one responsible for this to shreds herself. She had never felt so much rage.

Starfire was in a similar state. Her eyes a more piercing green then they had ever been, pride and her duty as a warrior rattled angrily at the lose she had suffered. She would get Beastboy back and show the enemy that making her angry was a mistake.

Cyborg seemed the only level headed teen of the group.

He knew something was bugging Robin. Ever since he had come back that night something had changed, shifted, bent or even broken. Cyborg had seen it in his stance, heard it in his voice and read it from his actions. He didn't know what it was but it was big enough to make their leader lie to them and cause this change in behaviour.

Cyborg glanced in his mirror to see Raven still treating Starfire. Whatever had happened he knew that Raven knew, and it had made her angry. Angry enough so that her judgement was clouded and her normal emotionless face was filled with emotion. _Hate_, vicious, killing hate. It made Cyborg uncomfortable and even more determined to find out what had happened.

He activated the comm. gear linked to Robin's helmet. "Robin are you going to tell me what happened or am I going to have to find out for myself." Silence. He sighed tiredly and tried again. "Robin. This is important, whatever happened is obviously linked to this case and if we're going to get BB back I need to know all the facts and what these guys are capable of."

He looked out his window and saw Robin driving ahead as if he couldn't hear the half robot driving next to him. He noticed that Raven had been distracted by the conversation and he knew that she was listening.

Cyborg stopped the growl that was forming in his throat. "Fine. I get it. You don't trust me. That's cool, just don't come crawling back to me when this thing blows up and bites you in the ass."

He waited to see if Robin was going to reply, when it appeared that he wasn't and Cyborg began to contemplate that there might be something wrong with the comm. he heard Robin's tired voice.

"Look, Cy I…" Then he yelled in pain.

It startled Cyborg so much that the car swerved dangerously and in reaction he slammed his foot on the breaks. Stopping he jumped out of car just at the same time Raven did to see their leader writhing in pain on the floor.

The bike was lying on its side, undamaged, most likely because Robin somehow managed to stop safely. His helmet was resting a few metres away, thrown there in hast, and Robin was crouched low to the ground, hands gripping his head as he growled and moaned in obvious agony.

"Robin!" All three teens called out at the same time and raced to their leader's side, worry etched into all of their faces.

Robin had never felt so much pain.

The headache that had been simmering at the back of his mind for the past few hours had suddenly exploded outwards, filling his head with agonizing pain, cutting off his conversation with Cyborg and forcing him to make an emergency stop through the hazy cloud of throbbing in his mind.

He didn't know what caused it and he was vaguely aware that someone above him was calling his name and he felt Raven's comforting presence brush against his mind. He could tell she was trying to get in, to fight off whatever was causing this and before he could let her in something pushed her out and new thoughts that were not his filled his head.

**Come…come…**

The thought of the plan that they had come up with after hours of trying to find where this base was, perfectly researched and thought out using satellite images where wiped from his mind.

**Come…come…**

He never thought to come from the west, as the lighting and position of rocks would allow a better ambush. The plan to attack by surprise drifted away, and he was aware that he had moved and was running to his bike, faster than he had ever moved before.

**Come…come…**

He was already moving, the R-Cycle being pushed to its limits as he raced it across the desert at speeds he would normally never dare to try.

**Come…come…_come._**

He was coming.

Cyborg swore and pushed the T-Car to the max, fearing that they were never going to catch up with Robin.

He and Robin had worked on the bike themselves, allowing maximum speeds while using light strong metals for the body work. The whole bike was one big engine, designed for combat and high velocity.

The bike was lighter than Cyborg's T-Car and at this moment a lot faster. Robin, if he was of sound mind, wouldn't be going at these speeds as his human reflexes wouldn't be able to keep up. Yet, now he was, and some outer influence that had thrown Raven out of Robin's mind was preventing him from crashing.

Cyborg was a good driver, and his car was something special, but he knew he that Robin was going to get to the base a lot quicker than they could and Cyborg was sure that all of their planning had already been thrown out of the window.

The half robot growled, put on an extra burst of speed and hoped that they were going to get out of this intact.

While Raven and Starfire sat in the back each feeling a sense of forbidding of what was to come.

Red X 

He had been waiting for a couple of hours now for Slade to show up.

During that time he had managed to get a good look around the base, without getting caught, and was slightly impressed. Though the whole Gothic theme that they had going reminded him much too strongly of Raven's room.

The whole base was centred around a large stone chamber that had seriously freaked Red out, though he wouldn't admit it, and the whole thing was covered in red, almost glowing, markings.

They strongly reminded X of the markings that had been present on that dragon he had pilfered off of Robin. The whole thing looked like it was ready for some sort of ritual and it wouldn't have surprised Red if it was.

And guess who the star guest was.

Red snorted and shifted into a more comfortable position looking out over the whole room. He was standing on an old balcony, high in a corner hidden nicely by shadows that was linked to a forgotten storage room. He was lucky he had come across it.

"I see you've found a perfect spot for an ambush."

Red X jumped and turned around, eyes wide as he took in Slade's relaxed form leaning against the old doorframe.

The teen's eyes narrowed; embarrassed that he had been startled and scoffed, crossing his arms against his chest. "Took you long enough."

Slade chuckled darkly. "It takes time to come up with a flawless plan dear boy." He stepped forward and nodded towards the floor below, beckoning Red to look. "I had to make some _preparations_."

Red blinked and followed Deathstroke's line of gaze and he smiled darkly once he noticed two of Slade's robots stealthily hiding in the corner.

"How many of them do you have?" He asked as the teen continued to scan the floor looking out for anymore lurking figures.

"Enough."

Red X suppressed his urge to snort and turned back towards the mercenary. He noticed that his weaponry was fully stocked and that none of his armour had been compensated.

He looked like the assassin he was.

"How long until the Titans arrive?"

Slade spared a glance at him. "About half an hour. Robin before the rest of them."

Red X cocked his head in confusion, he thought that the Titans would come charging in together.

"He was much more far ahead than his friends on that bike of his. Going at speeds that even _I_ would find difficult at handling."

Red noted that Slade didn't seemed too pleased by that fact, neither did X.

Before Red could comment though, the mercenary turned towards him. "Instead of waiting here I want you to go and do something useful."

Red bit his tongue from preventing the nasty comment that wanted to spring up from his throat.

"Go and find Beastboy and release him. Whatever plans this man has for Robin I will not let them be completed."

"Then why don't you just go and kill him?"

Slade narrowed his eye and was reminded how naïve this teenager still was.

"Because my dear boy, the man still has information that I need to recover, and the only way that I will be able to obtain it is to wait. Like Robin you lack patience to see the game play out."

Red X muttered angrily under his breath while Slade stood amused listening to the thief make his way out, content that he was obeying the order.

Red X was still seething as he made his way to where they were keeping the green titan. He nearly walked straight into the room before he realised that the two sisters from the plane were guarding the teen. He cursed his luck and slipped into the room, hugging the wall and keeping to the shadows.

"My dear Sister, isn't he simply adorable?" Bianca asked, flicking her fiery red hair back and staring with intense brown eyes at her sister. Her eyes narrowed dangerously when she didn't get an answer. "Stop working and come play."

Elsa threw her pen down furiously onto the desk that she had been sitting at. "Be quiet dear _Sister_. I have to finish these calculations for our Master before Robin arrives."

Bianca blinked at the scathing tone. "What is it?" She pouted. "Am I annoying you?"

While the two loving family members began bickering the thief stole his chance and stealthily made his way over to the sulking teen sitting within the confines of the blue bubble.

"Psst. Kid."

With wide eyes Beastboy turned to stare at his saviour.

"Red X! What the heck are you doing here?!"

Red scowled. "Keep it down." He glanced at the sisters and praised his luck that Beastboy's shriek had been drowned out by their own shouting. "We don't want to get caught."

The teen nodded eagerly and watched with great appreciation as X began to disable the containment shield.

"You are always acting so immature! Why can't you get a grip on yourself?!"

"And you're such a workaholic! Practically kissing our Master's feet!"

"Why you idiotic carrot head!"

"What! Well at least I'm not an ass licker!"

The bubble finally crackled one last time and disappeared.

As soon as Beastboy was free he morphed into a giant gorilla and with one huge swing of his green fist he flung Bianca across the room knocking her out.

Before Elsa could even shriek in surprise Red X had hit her across the head and watched as she crumpled to the floor.

"I've been itching to do that for hours now." Beastboy said in glee, cracking his knuckles playfully after he changed back.

Red just rolled his eyes and beckoned the teen to follow him. "Come on, we have to get to a place where they can't find us."

BB nodded and practically skipped over to where his rescuer was, happy to be finally out of that bubble. He stopped by the older teen's side and grabbed his arm to prevent X from going forward. The thief jolted in surprise but cut off his scathing remark after seeing the serious look on Beastboy's face.

"What they said about Robin." His voice suddenly filled with sorrow. "About what that _Master_ of theirs ordered Rancid to do, is it true?"

Red X stared at the boy beside him, taking in his posture and reading his face carefully, taking his time before he answered. "Yes."

Robin

The closer he got the stronger the urge grew.

Night had fallen long ago and the full moon stood proudly within the night sky, surrounded by sparkling stars, shining brightly without being obscured by any cloud cover.

The night was chilly, but in his state of mind Robin didn't notice the shivers racking up and down his body nor the Goosebumps along his exposed skin. All he knew was the unbridled joy that filled his mind.

He was here.

_Yes._ A voice that he didn't recognise filled his head; its soothing quality hid its manipulative glee. _Come Richard, come._

It was time.

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**Next chapter will be my longest next and where the whole shindig kicks off!**

**So review and I will be very happy!**

**Comments and improvements are always welcome. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Right a new chapter which signals a significant change in the story. **

**Now the reviews I can only now reply back to: **Maria** : I'm glad you're enjoying this and still reading! And I'm really happy that my last chapter helped on that day, I hope having them removed wasn't too painful!, **HolyFanfictionBatman!**: I'm glad you're enjoying this and I hope that this update didn't take too long! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own, a shame, but true.**

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The moonlight shone through the skylight and danced into the room below, the white reflections skittered across the large raised stone. Its eerie blackness stained with ritual markings carved carefully onto the side and they glowed an impossible blood red.

The Master watched with a smirk on his face as the sword that was practically glowing with energy be placed upright onto the middle of the polished stone. It sometimes sparked off black flames, the characteristic mark of Falcon's power being unleashed with the excitement of the heir only being a few rooms away.

_Come dear Richard._ He called out seductively with his mind, feeling the presence of his weapon but not being able to fully take control of him yet with the swords power still surging through the boy's mind. _This way Robin…come in here. _

"Has everything been prepared to my specifications?"

Several of his cloaked servants bowed down low respectively. "Yes my Master. Everything has been done."

He nodded, satisfied. "Good. I want the Titans distracted and kept out of this chamber. No one is to enter until the boy has claimed his inheritance and I've taken control." His smirk grew larger and more sinister. "The Titans will be the first to suffer the wrath of my new weapon."

He watched as his servants scurried out of the room and he turned his attention back towards the task at hand, his piercing yellow eyes glanced up towards the moon and he released his mind to make sure that he was alone.

His mind hit a strong mental barrier. _What's this…?_ He turned to look upwards, there was someone up there but whoever it was had the ability to block out his mind.

"Show yourself!"

A dark silhouette jumped down from an old balcony that the Master had stupidly forgotten about. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the intruder step forward and he wasn't surprised by who it was.

"Deathstroke." The Master had known of the claim the man had put on the boy and he was surprised that he had not been visited sooner. "What an unexpected surprise."

Slade's eye narrowed. "What do you think you're doing Destiny?"

Red X

He ducked, rolled and threw a sticky red x at the group of men and he watched in satisfaction as they fell, stuck together while cursing, unable to continue with their pursuit of the thief.

Beastboy had left around ten minutes ago, having received a message from Cyborg now that his communicator was working, to meet them outside the facility. That was fine with Red X, it gave him time to find Robin.

He knew the teen was here, he had heard those men talking about it earlier before he had given himself away and was forced to run. All he had to do now was find the kid and get him the hell out of here.

Beastboy was safe, Slade was dealing with whoever the hell had set the whole thing up and now all they needed was Robin.

Now all he had to do was find him.

Raven.

She watched the different expressions on her friend's faces.

Starfire's had been of shock, disbelief then replaced with Tameranian fury. Her green eyes practically _glowed_ with anger and her fists shook by her side. Raven knew what she was feeling, for she had felt it herself.

Cyborg on the other hand looked like he had just aged ten years.

Their reactions had been expected, especially since they had just found out what had happened to their leader.

"Raven." She turned towards her robotic friend, his face still looking worn. "You knew?" She nodded. "And you didn't tell us!" His voice had been raised at the end.

"It wasn't my secret to tell." She kept her voice neutral, trying to stay the voice of reason, while Beastboy was looking at her in shock. Unable to believe that she had known and had not said anything.

"But he had been…Rancid had…" Cyborg wiped his hand over his face. "Geez…"

"But you didn't say anything!" Beastboy practically shrieked and Raven glared at him. "You didn't even get him to see a doctor!"

"As I said, it wasn't my secret, it wasn't my choice."

Beastboy opened his mouth to argue but was beaten to it by Starfire.

"Friend Raven is right." All of the teens turned to her in shock, Raven included. "Robin is very proud, he wouldn't have accepted help and if forced he would've reacted very negatively." She rubbed one of her arms very self consciously. "Things like this take time to heal and most of it you have to do on your own." She looked up towards her friends. "During my time as a slave I was often used as entertainment. Trust me; I know that what Raven did was the right thing."

Cyborg took a step towards her. "Star…"

The Tameranian shook her head. "Now is not the time to worry over me, it is Robin who needs our help." Her eyes blazed determination and fury. "We will let these people know that messing with the Teen Titans is the _wrong_ thing to do."

Dr. Destiny

"I am surprised that you know of me. My reputation must exceed my expectations."

The assassin just crossed his arms. "Perhaps, but I know of your confrontation and hatred for the league as well as your…impressive mental abilities. However it is difficult to forget a face like yours once you have seen it."

Destiny laughed and drew his hood back, revealing a skeletal face underneath. "Too true." He placed it back over his head, though this time leaving enough light to filter through so all of his face could be seen. "Unfortunately I must cut this meeting short; I have very important business to attend to." He tapped his head with a gloved finger. "Yet my mental powers won't work on you will they? No your mind is far too powerful for that. I'll just have to get rid of you another way."

Slade just stared him down, looking completely unafraid.

"The effects from the Materioptikon have recently developed into something far more interesting than just making ones fear come to life." He chuckled darkly. "They have given me the ability to control Robin even with his ancestor's powers running through his veins and they have given me the power to destroy you."

Objects floated up from the floor and with his mind Dr. Destiny shifted their form into dagger like projectiles. "The abilities of the mind are always the most powerful."

Then the knife like objects flew towards the assassin. Only to be intercepted by a hoard of Slade's robots.

Then Deathstroke himself launched into action.

Red X

He had finally found Robin, the kid was walking toward that room Red had been in earlier and he seemed completely unaware that the thief was coming up behind him.

"Robin!" The boy didn't acknowledge the call, annoyed X reached out to grab the hero's shoulder. "Hello?! Didn't you here me, I cal…ack!" He was cut off by his own startled yelp when his hand was cruelly burnt when he touched Robin.

He stared incredulously, cradling his hand as he watched Robin continue to walk on in a strange sort of daze. _Ok, what the hell is going on here?_ He ran forward, ignoring his hand as the pain seemed to be ebbing away and jumped in front of the teen, blocking his path in an attempt to get his attention.

He was forced to walk backwards as Robin continued to walk forwards; he had learnt quickly that touching Robin wasn't a good idea.

"Would you stop and listen!" He was starting to get frustrated. "What the fuck is wrong with you!"

The golden wonder hadn't even reacted to the foul language.

Red X now was seriously considering that someone was messing with his head and decided on the best course of action.

He took out a bow staff that Slade had given him and smacked it against the oblivious teen's head.

Against his better judgement he caught the kid as he fell, waiting for the shock of the burn, then feeling relieved that there was none. He had told Deathstroke that he had no experience in wielding a bow staff and that carrying it around was only a waste of his time. Slade had told him to keep it anyway and now Red was secretly glad he did. Even he knew how to knock some sense into a person with a big stick.

Robin groaned and shifted in his grip, he blindly grabbed Red's chest to keep himself up and the other hand went to his head. "Urgh…my head feels like hell."

Red X chuckled, letting Robin grip onto his body tightly. "Good to see you're aware."

Robin blinked behind his mask, looked up into the thief's mask and suddenly realised that he was clutching X's chest, and the older teen had wrapped one arm around Robin's waist and the other across his own chest.

Robin pushed the thief away in surprise and stumbled backwards before clutching his head and groaning once again in pain.

Red shifted from amused to concern. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Robin growled either in anger or pain. "Someone…something calling me…have to go…come…come."

Red reached forward but jumped back in shock as Robin suddenly bolted forward and past him. X cursed under his breath and chased after the teen, hoping that Slade had already taken care of the jerk that had caused this mess. As Robin ran right into the chamber that the whole facility was based around.

And where Dr. Destiny and Deathstroke were fighting for their lives.

Robin

He was so close that the voice in his head was practically screaming at him.

_**Come…come…come!**_

The event with Red X was a brief flicker in his mind and even though somehow he knew the teen was following him the rest of his mind was too preoccupied with something else.

_**Come…come my master…let us be one…**_

The promise of power sung through his veins and even though some part of him whispered that he didn't need the power, nor want it, something ancient in his bones, in his very blood knew this was what he was born for.

_**We will be one again…so there will be no we…but I…**_

Robin knew that this voice, this power should be something to be afraid of, but he couldn't bring himself to feel fear.

_**You cannot fear yourself…come…come…**_

Robin was vaguely aware that he had entered a room, in the corner of his eyes he could make out a red glow and somewhere in his head a warning blared but it was pushed back by the voice.

_**Come…come…come…**_

He also noted that a great battle was raging around him, though as he ran forward he knew he had no time to acknowledge who was fighting.

Then he saw it.

A beautifully carved sword, its silver blade was lined with deep red stones which seemed to glow and pulse with energy, while the handle was a deep rich blue, almost black in colour.

He would admire the craftsmanship later; right now he was too amazed at knowing that this was where the voices came from.

_**Come my master…let us be joined…**_

He readily agreed and began to walk forward again, having stopped at the sight of the sword.

He was nearing the raised stone where the sword was when he was stopped by a hand grabbing his ankle.

Red X 

He had narrowly avoided the flying _dagger_ by rolling desperately to the side and prayed to whatever being that listened that the oblivious boy wonder wasn't hit.

He had entered the chamber to find Slade and a well known _Justice League_ villain fighting it out.

He was forced to move once again and throw his own X projectiles at the skull faced villain and he swore angrily when they were deflected. He couldn't believe that Dr. Destiny led a cult that worshipped the god dammed ancestor of Robins. Since when did he have the time to do that after escaping from jail?

The last he had heard he had been an agent of Grodd.

Though he got his answer after the bastard read his mind.

"I killed the original leader and took the position myself. After stealing his mind powers of course." Destiny laughed manically. "It was rather easy consid…" He growled and launched a large piece of metal at Slade who was running towards Robin. He had nearly reached the dazed teen until he had been thrown to the side by the impact of the metal hitting his shoulder.

"Now, now Slade. I can't have you interfering with our little heir now can I?" Red watched as Slade lifted himself off of the floor and sent a signal to Red X without the madman seeing. "He needs his powers first before he becomes mine." Destiny's face and tone darkened. "Then the Justice League will pay."

The fight began anew but un-expectantly Slade threw himself at the skull faced villain, both of them falling to the floor and Red took his chance and ran after Robin who was getting dangerously close to the sword.

But before he could grab him something hit his back and he fell forward with a yell, he heard Destiny scream at him but it was cut off with a swipe from Deathstroke's sword, which cut into his cape, nearly slicing his arm off.

Red ignored the skull's roar of rage and pain in favour of reaching out and grabbing Robin's ankle. He yelled and arched in agonizing pain from the contact and the feeling travelled up his arm and down his body, but before he let go he yanked his arm back and succeeded in bringing Robin down. He groaned in relief when the pain stopped and slowly began fading away.

The fall failed to snap Robin out of whatever hold he was in and the hero just got back up again and Red was still recovering from the shock to get up and stop him.

But before Robin could take a step forward a huge explosion rocked the chamber, causing Robin to stumble but not fall, he wasn't an acrobat for nothing.

X turned towards the source of the explosion and his eyes widened with surprise and relief as he saw the Titans enter from a huge hole they had blown in the wall. Cyborg was in front, proudly holding up his sonic canon which was still glowing from the blast he had made seconds earlier.

The thief watched as the teens took in the scene in front of them but before they could react to the presence of two well known and dangerous villains Dr. Destiny took matters in his own hands.

"Ah Titans, how nice to see you." The tone of his voice betrayed otherwise. "I would love to chat but unfortunately you're interfering with my business." He laughed and Red noticed that Slade had disappeared. "You can have the honour of experiencing my powers that have the ability to bring Superman down on his knees."

Red had heard of his powers to make ones fear come to life, to make a nightmare seem all too real and at close proximity to be able to manipulate a person's senses; and as Red heard the hero's screams he knew that with Destiny's new power boost it was an experience that he hoped to never have.

Red struggled but managed to get up on his feet, he winced in pain and tried to block out the teenagers terrifying screams but he knew he had to _something. _He raised his arm and shot an array of red x's at the madman, hoping to distract him enough so at least the witch could get out of his hold.

It worked and he watched in satisfaction as the man stumbled, lost his focus which caused Raven to finally use her own mind magic to break Destiny's power over her.

Her eyes glowed in rage. "Azerath metrion zinthos!"

Dr. Destiny was blasted backwards by a huge explosion of black energy; he flew back a good ten metres before skidding across the floor. Stopping at the feet of Deathstroke himself. "Goodbye Destiny." Then Slade demonstrated as to why he was an assassin.

Red looked away and noticed the Titans were too distracted with recovering to notice the final blow Slade had made.

Then something truly horrifying came to the thief.

"Robin!" The teen was already on the stone pillar, his arm reaching forward and Red was far too late to stop him from reaching out and grabbing the sword. "No!" Then X was blasted back, along with Slade and the Titans by the force of the energy release created by the contact of the heir and his sword.

Robin

He had never felt something so amazing and horrifying at the same time in his life.

As soon as he felt the cool hard metal in his hands the world had been blasted away and he was floating in a sea of red energy. It felt like a he was drowning in a strong river current and instead of feeling wet it felt like everything was on fire.

Black fire.

The voice was gone because it was now him; it belonged to and became him.

He didn't know if he was in pain or in heaven with the feeling of pure _power_ running through his veins, the very thing that he didn't know existed a few days ago felt like he has had it his whole life. It was right and wrong at the same time.

Then it was over.

He was slowly brought back to reality and he was aware that every muscle, every bone, every vein in his body was alive with song, the song of power.

Robin slowly became aware that he was holding the sword above his head and he brought it down, confused and he gripped it tightly. He was both exhausted and full of energy at the same time.

He looked around and noticed that everything in the chamber had been destroyed. _Did I do this!?_ He looked around in horror, in his dazed state of mind he could have sworn Red X had followed him in and the Titans had blown their way in soon after.

Now they were no where to be seen.

Terrified and still gripping his sword tightly he jumped off the rock and ran forward, desperately trying to find any sign of his friends and the thief while he called out frantically.

He jumped over bits of rubble and pushed other bits aside, while trying to fight off his growing panic.

He finally spotted a small movement from underneath a large rock and he dropped the sword carelessly once he saw that familiar black jagged cape. "Red X!" Robin heaved the rock off the thief's lithe form and he gasped in horror at the state of the teen.

_What have I done?_ He was covered in blood, most of it from a large tear in his side and he dropped to his knees to try and help. He quickly assessed most of the damage and Robin knew that there had to be internal injuries. Red X coughed weakly and Robin was aware how very weak his pulse was.

_He's going to die…_ Robin hadn't wanted this. _It's all my fault._

He should have fought that urge to come here! He should have been stronger! If he hadn't let Rancid…If he had been a better leader…If he hadn't been the leader in the first place…

Red X would still be alive; Red X wouldn't have existed if it hadn't been for his stupid mistake and the thief wouldn't be in this position. Robin looked at his hands.

_His blood stains my hands…all of theirs do. Are my friends even still alive?_

Pure agony ripped through Robin's form. _I wished this never happened, that any of this had happened…_ Robin looked at the blood on his green gloved hands. _I wished I never became Robin_.

His power surged without warning, Robin screamed in pain as it was unleashed by the will of its master and as Robin fell into darkness the universe twisted and turned in on itself, bending to the will of a sixteen year old boy.

When Robin came to he felt the softness of bed covers and the warmth of a very _naked_ body pressing up against his back.

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**Firstly I would like to comment on my use of Dr. Destiny. **

**Before I started this fic I needed a villian that had awesome mind powers but also hated the League with a passion, so I researched and Destiny was the best choice. I haven't seen any of the episodes in which he appears in the Justice League so to those people who have this is the reason to why he seems so OOC. Also I needed him to be this way, I sorta molded him to fit my needs within this story, so he's sorta an OC but not...**

**Secondly please don't kill me for this cliff hanger.**

**I would like to reasure everyone that I do not do character deaths (apart from the villians of course), but that's all I can tell you for now. Mwahahaha! O.o **

**Also reviewing is good, it prompts me to update quicker and it makes my day, knowing that people are reading and enjoying. **

**So yeah...REVIEW! **


	13. A road not travelled

**Why yes, there is an update! **

**I'd like to thank all my reviewers and reply to the people who don't have accounts: **

yaoiobsessive:** I'm glad you liked it! And I hope you didn't have to wait too long for this update!**

marker14**: I'm happy that you're enjoying this, and yes I have to agree with you, but that's what this story is for!**

HolyFanfictionBatman!:** smiles I'm glad you think this is cool, and yes, that last cliff hanger was mean. And here is the update!**

loveless101: **Yes, I was cruel, but I've hopefully made it up with this chapter! And I'm very happy you're enjoying this!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own, do not sue. please **

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He felt the blood drain from his face and he felt his body heat up that had nothing to do with embarrassment when the _naked _body behind him shifted and moved closer.

In that half a second it took Robin to gather his wits he noticed that the body behind him wasn't the only naked person in the bed, if the skin on skin contact was anything to go by, and that the person was very much male. And naked. In a bed. With him.

But he had already established that.

He rolled out of the loose grip and fell with a graceful _thump_ onto the floor.

Robin's chest heaved up and down and he turned his head to the side, his brain cells still scattered and unreachable. And then he froze.

There, on the floor, lying innocently as if it belonged there was the very root of his problems.

The sword.

Robin lifted himself up onto one of his elbows, he no longer cared about the state of his undress as long as whoever was on that bed stayed asleep and his attention was focused else where. He noticed that the stones no longer glowed that eerie blood red and he also felt no pull for him to touch it. In fact that strange power he had felt before was gone.

Slightly miffed he tenderly reached his arm forward, his hand hovered unsure above the handle for a moment before he pressed a finger onto the cool metal.

Nothing.

He blinked, then in more confidence he wrapped his whole hand around the hilt and heaved it up as he pushed himself upwards to lean against the side of the bed. The sword felt dead within his hands, as if something had drained all of the life out of it. He twisted the sword around in his grip, admiring the gem stones and the craftsman ship and he wondered what the heck had happened back at that base.

Then the memories hit.

He hissed and grabbed his head as memories that were his, but also not flooded his head and he was lost within a time that could have been. A universe had he often thought about when his days fighting criminals became too much, a universe that belonged to a what if question and a universe he thought that could never exist.

A universe where Robin, partner of the Batman and leader of the Teen Titans never existed. Why? Because Bruce hadn't been there that night when his parents died, he never saw his own pain reflected within a haunted set of a child's blue eyes so he didn't take him in. Dick hadn't been put under the care of Bruce Wayne, the Batman.

A part of him, the part that was linked to this new set of memories was slightly surprised to discover that the rich billionaire playboy was in fact the vigilante that had every crook watching the shadows. However Robin pushed those foreign feelings aside and concentrated on sorting out these new memories that still left his mind with a dull ache.

Dick Grayson had gone into foster care after his parents' death; he remembered always being moved around, and never really having much time to bond with the people he was put with. In fact he recalled that he had never wanted to, those people were not _parents_ not like his Mum and Dad. They had been fakes, forced to look after him because the government paid them to. He had always caused trouble for the foster carers, as he had never had time to fully grieve for his loss and had always resented the adults around him because of that.

That was until he had met James. The boy a year older than him that had captured his ten year old self's attention from the very start. They both had been put in the same foster home and because of their hatred for the system they had clicked instantly.

James was what the other adults called a bad influence, as he always went missing for hours or even days at a time before wandering back. Never caring about the missed school hours nor the scolding the carers would give and he was always getting into fights. Robin remembered the one time he had spilt a glass of coke all over one of the older kids at school and he would've gotten beaten up for it too if it hadn't been for James.

After that they had been inseparable, as Dick had demanded to know where James had learnt to fight like that, when the older boy refused to say where Dick then requested James to teach him himself. His saviour had been reluctant at first but when Dick had shown him his graceful acrobatics James had agreed and taught him how to turn his natural talent into a weapon.

Dick wasn't as near good a fighter as James was, even after the older boy had started to teach him martial arts, techniques learnt from a man James had said he didn't want Dick to get involved with. It wasn't until Dick had turned twelve when he discovered James' nightly activities as a thief. Around that time the newly turned teen had gotten in trouble with a local gang and he had been forced to leave, taking Dick with him.

Robin smiled slightly as he recalled his younger self learning with a familiar determination to prove himself to his close friend. If James wouldn't let him go out stealing with him so they could survive Dick had learnt everything else a good thief needed to know. Dick had dived head first into books and filled his head with information on science, engineering, how buildings are constructed, IT and he had learnt how to hack, by computer, into systems that you shouldn't be able to hack into.

Robin felt pride fill his chest at his younger self's accomplishments, he hadn't even learnt as much under the strict tutelage of Batman, but then Bruce hadn't taught him how to be a thief's accomplice.

James had been impressed too, so when they had moved to Jump City, after hopping from city to city, it allowed them to form a more permanent home. With Dick nearly fifteen and James pushing sixteen they had claimed Jump as theirs and had gotten themselves day time jobs, before starting their night life and their near vicious rivalry with the Titans.

A wave of anguish filled Robin's chest as he thought about his friends. In this universe they had been enemies, with Robin being on the wrong side of the line. Dick in this universe hadn't actually met them face to face, as James, under the disguise of Hawk (a name given to him by Dick as he called himself Robin, a name he guessed that would haunt him in every universe) had been the more physically active person in their partnership, a fact that Dick had wanted to rectify, saying that he had the skills to be out there with Hawk, but James always refused. Even now when Dick was sixteen, much older than James had been when he had first started stealing.

Robin sighed and glanced back up at the bed where James was snoring softly. He guessed it had been inevitable that they had ended up sleeping together.

Though, now, with his experiences of his true life as the leader of the Titans in his mind, he wasn't sure he was comfortable with this situation.

He still felt the undeniable trust and attraction towards James that was apart of this new universe, but then he also felt the fear of touch that had formed when he had been raped. Robin groaned, his head was starting to hurt again with all of these conflicting emotions.

He glanced towards the corner of the room where he noticed his clothes hazardly thrown across the carpet, dropped there in hast by James as they had been in the way. Robin felt himself heat up and he knew that there would be a red blush covering his face. A part of him couldn't understand as to why he was feeling embarrassed while the other cringed in mortification as he remembered how he had gotten in that bed.

Robin stood on shaky legs and made his way over to the corner, he hastily shoved on jeans and a plain blue t-shirt, that was slightly ripped on one side and Robin refused to acknowledge as to why that was there, his face blushing further as the memories of rough hands removing clothing wouldn't go away.

He shook his head in frustration and he stole a quick glance at the lean figure sleeping on the bed. The bed covers had been kicked off during sleep so nothing was left to the imagination, Robin quickly averted his gaze once he was sure James was still asleep and he pushed away the dirty thoughts that filled his head after noticing muscular arms, strong lean legs and a handsome face. He also had to force down the foreign lust that surged forward and a part of him actually _whimpered_ in disappointed when he refused to jump on his partner and, Robin groaned, ravish him.

Now extremely frustrated with himself Robin stormed out of the room, after reaching and picking up the heavy sword, and walked into the kitchen that was joined with the sitting room. He placed the sword onto the kitchen table, minding that the metal striking the surface didn't wake up James, and sat himself in a chair and buried his heads in his arms, not caring the cool surface of the table created Goosebumps along his bare arms.

Robin now had no clue as to what he was going to do. He couldn't exactly continue on as if nothing was wrong, James was going to notice the change in his partner/lover/best friend and this wasn't _his_ universe to live in. Well, it was, as he had the memories and the feelings of experiencing each memory, but he still felt the utter _wrongness_ with the whole thing.

Robin knew he had changed with his power, which he suspected he no longer had, something that shouldn't have been changed. One could not just change time because they wanted it, not without consequences.

Robin sat up and leant backwards staring at the ceiling and wishing that there was a God so he could clean up the mess Robin had created.

Unsurprisingly that didn't work. Dick sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, noticing the laptop he used to hack into security systems was sitting innocently on the kitchen side table. He looked away, bothered that in this life he was a criminal, the very thing that he used to hate and it frightened him slightly that the idea of breaking the law now didn't seem as bad to him compared to when he had been leading the Titans.

He knew, from experiences that the world was not black and white. But for him to be actively working against the law and helping someone else _steal_ disturbed him more than he thought it would.

This wasn't a universe he was comfortable with. He created this and now he just had to figure out a way to fix it.

"What are you doing up?"

Robin yelped and grabbed a hold of the side of the table before him and his chair toppled over. He glanced up in humiliation at being surprised and then his eyes widened when he noticed that his flat mate was only wearing boxer shorts, leaving his chest very much bare.

James, still too sleepy to notice his friend's distress he asked again, stifling a yawn.

Robin continued to blush under the gaze of two deep brown eyes and he watched those hands which had explored his body so eagerly just hours before rake themselves through shaggy mousy brown hair.

James suddenly noticed the very sharp weapon resting on the table and then he was quickly very much awake.

"Holy shit!" He rushed forward and grabbed a protesting Robin away from the dangerous sword and dragged him a good few feet away, eyeing the weapon as if it had been attacking his lover. He then grabbed the shorter teen by the shoulders and spun him around to meet his gaze. "What the hell is that _thing_ doing in our flat?!"

His partner just stared at him, with an out of place blush across his face and his beautiful blue eyes were opened wide.

"Hello!? I'm not playing games here kid."

Recognition flickered in his eyes and on his face. "Red X?"

James just stared at the boy strangely. "What. The. Hell?"

Dick just shook his head and turned his head towards the sword on the table. "It just…" He seemed to be trying to find the right words. "Appeared."

James let go of his Robin and looked at him in disbelief, one eyebrow raised and mouth slightly open. "What?"

Robin blushed again and took a step back, his face showed indecision and the teen frowned at the sword in thought. "I…Well look…See…"

James reached forward and placed his palm on the boy's forehead. He didn't have a temperature…

Robin blushed again and James had to wonder what the hell had gotten into the kid, his hands were expectantly smacked away and he waited for an explanation with his arms crossed over his bare chest.

Robin sighed in frustration and looked at the stranger/ his lover and tried to find a way to explain this to him without sounding crazy. "You have to promise me you'll let me finish before you interrupt."

James nodded in curiosity but then suddenly lashed out and pulled the surprised boy against him after Robin had begun to make his way back towards the table where the sword lay. "I'm not letting you any where near that thing."

The ex-Titan growled in annoyance, grabbed James with a strength that this universe's Robin didn't have and pushed James into a seat at the table while Robin took one facing opposite the flustered teen. "Sit and Listen." The voice of an experienced leader leaked through his command.

James though surprised, seemed more amused. "You should be more forceful like that in the bedroom love." The thief chuckled at his bird's expected angry flush. "I'm sorry, I'll behave."

Waiting until his blush died away Robin began explaining everything, how he had changed the universe, how his past was different from this version of his past and how he needed to change everything back.

Throughout the explanation Robin watched James' ever changing emotions from amusement, to disbelief and from indifference to concern. He knew James could read body language extremely well, which gave him an edge in fights but now he knew it would help him convince James that he was telling the truth.

When he finished Robin watched as Hawk lent backwards, trying to soak in the information, while he looked at Dick then back at the sword.

"You were the leader of the Titans?"

Robin could understand as to why James sounded so disgusted, while he knew Hawk enjoyed the fight he hated the teens' attitude, how they could never see past the crime that was being committed. Robin also knew of the rivalry between him and their leader, Speedy. While Robin wasn't surprised at their choice in leadership, his experience with Green Arrow was as valuable as Robin's was with Batman he was surprised at Speedy's attitude in this universe.

"I was James, but hopefully I don't think that I was as bad as Speedy is." Robin looked his lover over, trying to see if he could confirm suspicions that had raced through his mind ever since he heard the way James spoke and held himself. "Anyway I think that in my universe we may have not been as close, but as Red X you and I still had some sort of connection." Robin looked away unable to look into those eyes that held questions he didn't want to answer. "Well, a connection I wanted anyway." He spoke in almost a whisper.

He felt a warm hand wrap around his own that gave him the silent support he needed. "It's just…some circumstances got in the way." He looked James in the eye; he knew that if he was going to cope until this was fixed then his _lover_ was going to have to understand what Rancid had done.

James

He sat on the roof looking over Jump City, it was nearing day break with the city at its most quietist. The night life having retreated and the day workers still in bed. He breathed in a lung full of crisp air, it was his favourite time of day.

He hadn't told Dick how unsettled he had been after what he had said. That his whole life and everything that had happened between the two of them had been one big lie. Born from the desperation of a sixteen year old boy who had seen too much and lost too many.

Though, now after hearing about the tales of Red X he knew that Robin was right. That this whole universe seemed so…_fake_. That something inside of him recognised what Dick had been saying, and even though in that time they hadn't been together he knew they soon would've been.

The type of relationship he had with Robin couldn't be torn apart with the change of time.

And after hearing what that bastard had done to his Robin…he growled in barely suppressed rage. He had half the mind to seek out Rancid of this universe and kill him just to make himself feel better.

He snorted and shook his head, complaining to himself that he was getting soft and he would indulge in flustering up Speedy and kicking the Titans butts later. After Robin showed him what the experiences with Batman and the Titans had taught him.

He stood up, letting the black jagged cape fall around his shoulders and he pulled on his grey gloves, clenching his fist as he did so.

He heard Robin snort from behind him. "It's amazing how similar Hawk's suit is compared to Red X's."

James was clad in a tight black Kevlar suit, the only break within the black was the silver belt, the long grey gloves and the red Hawk on his chest where the Red cross would've been on the Red X suit.

Though the major difference was the mask, black and spiked where it meets the eyebrows and it was more of a deadly butterfly shape than Robin's simple domino mask. Completely black apart from the thin white lenses and the red lining he truly did look like a predator swooping down on black jagged wings to snare its prey.

James chuckled. "That's parallel universes for you kid." He ran a hand through his hair. "Though at least mine only covers the top half of my face, like yours, I couldn't stand having a whole head mask. I would miss the air against my skin as I jump off a building."

Robin just nodded, a curious expression on his face.

"Come on the kid." James beckoned as he got into a fighting stance. "Show me what you've got."

Then Robin launched himself at Hawk with a speed that only a predator would posses.

The first fight only lasted a few short moments before Robin succeeded in gaining the win. There were many more after that, with James getting used to Robin's experienced acrobatic style of fighting and soon James felt the his adrenaline soar in the realisation of him getting a real challenge.

It was amazing, the thrill of the fight rushed through his veins, his breath quickened in excitement and there was a permanent grin plastered on his face. Both fighters danced around each other, pushing the other to his limits and Hawk realised that this was nothing like fighting Speedy or the Titans.

Speedy preferred long range fights, where his arrows would give him the advantage and the other Titans used their powers to try and win. That type of fighting was nothing like what he was experiencing now and it was almost sexual in its ferocity.

James realised how much he had restricted his partner before with only teaching him enough to defend himself in a fight. He had been afraid that if Robin came out with him he would get hurt or caught and that was unsatisfactory. But now, the bird had no cage to stop his wings from spreading completely outwards and he expressed his freedom in a dance of talent, strength and wit.

At the end of it they collapsed in each others arms and laughed breathlessly, sinking to the floor of the rooftop with the first of the suns rays gliding over their gasping forms.

"I never had a fight like that, not even with Red X." He smiled up at James and the thief couldn't suppress his own. "But there's now no doubt in my mind that you and Red X are in fact the same person."

James tilted his head. "Oh?"

"Yeah." Robin looked at him with anticipation. "Only Red could make me feel like that in a fight." And with the adrenaline still coursing through his veins and with the feeling of trust he was beginning to understand Robin lent forward and captured James mouth with his own.

James wrapped his arms securely around the other teen as the sun shed its light onto the boys, bathing them with the promise of tomorrow.

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**I'd just like to make sure a few things are clear: 1. Dick's alter ego is called Robin in both universe's. 2. Robin, in this new universe, has not yet met the Titans and the Titans do not know of him, Robin's job is to give Hawk information and help him from behind the scenes during missions. 3. Yes, James is Red X (I'm still a bit miffed I gave him an identity, I liked it when he was all mysterious, but then him not having an identity just gets in my way). **

**I'm sorry there wasn't much happening but next chapter the Titans make an apperance and so does our favourite arrow weilding red head, but I'm warning you they and him will not react well with what Robin has to say. **

**Oh and also REVIEW, because reviewing is the ducktape of fanfiction. **

**'waves' Until next time!**


	14. Consequences

**Here is the next update...finally. **

**So here are the reviewers to which I can only reply to right now. **

**Ness: **_I'm glad you're enjoying this and I hope this satisfies all of your Red X/Robin needs, all though there are some pretty good ones out there. And I'm sorry about the long update._

**Christina: **_I'm happy that you like this and here's the next update!!_

**Loveless101**: _Yay! I am forgiven! And here is the update!!_

**Holyfanfictionbatman:**_ I'm glad you liked the ending and that line was one of my favourite to write! And finally the update is here!!_

**Disclaimer: If I owned Teen Titans it wouldn't be cancelled. **

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It was strange to see the city that he had spent two years of his life in seem so familiar yet completely foreign at the same time.

Robin had been adamant that they get the Titans involved and that they needed their help if they were ever going to get the universe back to normal. James had been extremely reluctant, but he understood Dick's need to see his friends again, even if they didn't remember him.

Hawk had said that it was better if they confronted them at night, so that left the whole day for them to prepare and for Dick to check out the city.

There was surprisingly a lot of difference, the main one being that Jump City wasn't in as near as good condition as the Jump City back in Robin's universe. It could have been due to Speedy's ability in leadership and his inability to look after his city, but Robin knew the real reason.

Wayne Industries was missing in Jump City.

Just four months after Robin had formed the Titans Wayne Industries had proposed that they were going to expand their business outside of Gotham and they had started with Jump as their first new base. Robin remembered being furious at the time, that Bruce had dared to interfere in his life and in his city and when Dick had confronted Bruce about it the billionaire had said it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with Jump City's advantageous business location.

Of course he knew that it had been a lie then and now he knew that he had been right. With Bruce having no run away ward superhero in this city Wayne Industries was no where to be seen and the advantages of having it there with it were gone as well.

The company had brought other businesses streaming into Jump, creating increasing demand on the city and the Mayor had been forced to put in money to expand and improve Jump City's conditions. Creating new apartment buildings, improving and modernising the older worn parts of the city, adding new shopping malls and even improving the quality of the city park.

Without Wayne Industries Jump City looked as it did when Robin first came across it, something that Gotham had spewed up.

Surprisingly he felt more at home in this bedraggled version of the city than the cleaner modernized one back in his timeline. Though when he thought about it, it wasn't really that surprising as the tall grey structures reminded him of the days when he swung across tall gothic structures in green shorts and pixie boots.

He was lucky that he hadn't made that fashion mistake in this universe or James would have never let it go.

It wasn't his fault his eight year old mind wanted to preserve his parent's legacy by modelling his first Robin uniform on what he wore in the circus.

He just had to keep telling himself that.

He and James turned a corner and walked further towards the centre of the city, where they would find the atmosphere a lot more pleasant and a lot safer as the number of derelict buildings and drug grottos got smaller and smaller and soon they were swept up in the mass of people going about their business or doing their weekend shopping.

The two teens kept to one side of the side walk, allowing them to easily slip past passers by and soon they managed to make it to their favourite restaurant, as the owner knew about them being orphans without guardians in the city and not giving a rat's arse about it. The other advantage was that the owner's brother was gay and sometimes worked as the chef in the restaurant, so if anyone gave the young couple trouble they could always count on the trouble makers being kicked out.

The two regulars slipped through the door and immediately made their way over to their usual spot. The waitress in charge that day looked up at their arrival and grinned in greeting, she gave a little wave, grabbed her notebook and scurried over to their table, looking forward to the large tip they always leave.

After they had ordered their drinks Robin took the time to look around the moderate sized restaurant that was in good condition despite it's location within the city centre. As it was in the wrong side of town to attract the richest and highest class of Jump City it was the most modernised and well kept restaurant in the area, making it popular among the locals as it showed that you had to have some sort of money and status to be dining there.

James thought it was a load of bull considering that they ate there nearly every week but as Dick (well one half of him) had grown up with the Bruce Wayne he knew what people would do to gain higher social status and even get themselves to look better in the eyes of others.

"What do you want to eat?" James asked as he skimmed down his own menu, considering if he should go with something other than his usual.

Dick glanced down the list of meals, completely ignoring the prices as money had never been a problem for them.

"I'll have the steak."

James looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit much for this time of day?"

Robin just looked at him "I need a high intake of protein."

The other teen opened his mouth to say something but then thought better of it and just returned to look down the menu, muttering under his breath.

Robin snickered and relaxed against his chair, letting the atmosphere of the restaurant wash away all of his major concerns, if only just for that moment. It was just him and James and the rest of the world could be dammed for all he cared. His only major worry at the moment was if he should order any side dishes.

The enthusiastic waitress hurried over to their table and eagerly scribbled down their orders, her pleasant smile never leaving her face and she buzzed off away from their table in her continuous happy manner.

Unsurprisingly the drinks arrived pretty quickly, only the best service for the high paying regulars and the teens knew that their meal wouldn't take that long to prepare either. There weren't a lot of other people in the restaurant with them, as it was the busiest in the evening, so the teens had that corner of the room to themselves and didn't have to worry about other customers eavesdropping into their conversation.

"I suggest we plan a stage heist to get the Titan's attention tonight." Robin started catching Hawk's interest. "I know you haven't stolen anything in a while and they wouldn't be surprised by your appearance."

James nodded and looked into the blue eyes of his lover. "They're going to be surprised by yours though." He then grinned in an afterthought. "Speedy's going to be so _pissed_ to find out I have a partner." He then looked at Robin appreciatively. "Especially after he finds out that you can kick his ass."

The other teen frowned. "I'm not fighting them James. We're trying to get their help remember?"

"I know _that, _but that doesn't mean if arrow head gets mouthy you can't put him in his place. You're their leader, _remember_."

"I'm not in this time-line."

"But still…" James trailed off as a thought came to his head. "Speedy's going to freak once he knows that you worked with the **Batman**. There's a rumour going round that Speedy's afraid of him."

Robin looked interested, if not slightly amused. "Oh?"

"I heard that a few years back Speedy launched an arrow at Bats from behind and that Batman caught it without turning around. Speedy's been scared of him ever since."

Robin snorted trying to suppress his laughter. "There's another thing that's common with our time-lines then." Robin answered James' questioning glance. "It was when we had just started as side-kicks, well I had been Robin for a year and Speedy had only just started. We were in the Justice League space station as our mentors had a meeting and thought it would be a good idea if we met." Robin smiled at the memory of said event. "Speedy was bored and he didn't think that the Batman was as good as people said he was so he decided to prove it by hitting him with an arrow." Robin tried to stop himself from laughing at his point. "You should have seen his face when Batman caught it, I think he nearly had a heart attack right there and then."

They both chuckled at the image and James was feeling pretty smug at knowing this little piece of information about the fearless _Speedy._

It was nice, Robin reflected, at feeling this care free in his present situation. He could admit that he was still freaked out about being in a completely different universe but being able to laugh about the past with his partner was a rare but welcomed event for him. It helped relieve the stress that had been slowly building up.

However the seriousness of this situation he was in hadn't escaped him and his goal of getting back and fixing his own time line hadn't left his mind either.

He knew that if he couldn't get the Titan's help then he was going to have to consult Bruce's. Something he wanted to avoid if possible, since he knew that getting Bruce to believe him wouldn't be too hard but he knew that his control over his situation would slip through his fingers and go straight into Batman's.

And the fact that his partner was known criminal wouldn't help at _all_.

He just had to hope that the Titans would listen to him.

The rest of the meal was good, and they talked about trivial things before leaving and heading back to the flat. Each of them set their moods back to the problem at hand as they mentally prepared themselves for the planning they would have to do and how they would stop the teen heroes from attacking and stop to listen.

Hawk had a lot of doubts about this whole thing. He _knew_ the Titans and no matter what Robin claimed they were different from how his partner expected them to be.

For one thing the Titans weren't that as respected group as Robin had known them. They had far fewer members than they had in Dick's time-line and had struggled to deal with large threats because of that. And that wasn't including the battles they had out of this city.

James had been amazed at the accomplishments the Titans had made under the leadership of his Robin and it showed how much of a good leader Robin was.

During the time when Hawk was out stealing and Dick was at home on the computer, talking to him through communicators, Robin was the one who gave the orders and Hawk followed them. James knew that if Dick hadn't been there directing him where to go, how to get there and sometimes how to act Hawk wouldn't have been as near as a success as he had been with Dick there to guide him. His accomplishments as a thief were due to Robin, and James had to feel sorry for his other self back in Dick's timeline as he had to go up against Robin every time he stole something. And from what Robin had told him those times hadn't been many.

He felt almost embarrassed at Red X's lack of success. But that was his own fault for trying to steal in a city that was guarded by a group of super powered teens led by the former partner of the Batman himself.

James was very lucky to have Robin on his side.

"So we're ready then?"

James looked up at his lover, who was dressed in his full Robin uniform and thatsword was slung in a hand made sheath on his back.

"Yeah, we're ready."

0.0.0.0.0.0

The night was cool and the chilled air created shivers up and down the exposed flesh on Robin's arms. But after a few minutes of running and jumping across rooftops the adrenaline and warmth created by exercise chased the shivers away.

They were headed to the museum, typical and predictable but this way they had a clear escape route away via rooftops in case anything went wrong and the Titans wouldn't question such a heist. All they had to do was purposefully trip the alarms, make sure Hawk was caught on camera so the museum security knew to alert the Titans and not the police and then wait.

Simple but effective.

They reached the museum rooftop and slid inside the building after opening up a glass panel, Robin moved silently into the shadows, away unseen while Hawk pulled off his part of the plan and tripped the alarms. Then Hawk made himself look busy while pretending to break into random glass cases while they waited for the Titans to arrive.

The thief and the hero only had to wait for a few minutes before the group of teens made their noisy entrance and Robin watched with interest clearly evident on his face as Speedy led his friends and pronounced their presence.

"Put the vase down Hawk."

Hawk turned, a small smile played on his lips as he juggled the priceless ceramic in his hands. "I was waiting for to show up." He looked straight at Speedy. "You took longer than expected. You must be losing you're touch."

Speedy's face twisted in to one of arrogant defiance and he raised his bow to take a shot only to falter when Hawk threatened to drop the vase.

"No matter how much it pains me to say so I didn't come here for a fight."

Surprise was evident on all of the Teen's faces and Starfire flew forward with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Then why did you come?"

Robin moved presumptuously out from the shadows to stand next to Hawk, the bright colours of his costume contrasting sharply to the grey tones of his partner's.

"So I could speak with you."

Speedy lowered his bow and the rest of the Titans dropped their attack stances.

"Who are you supposed to be?" It was blatant that Speedy wasn't very impressed.

But before he could get an answer from the stranger Raven walked forward and lowered her hood, her steps confident and sure. "Robin. I was wondering when you would show up."

Hawk blinked behind his mask and stared at the witch who was now standing right in front of his partner who was looking a bit stunned at Raven knowing who he was.

"Raven, you know this guy?" Cyborg asked, looking at said teen up and down, confused at how such a bright coloured individual could possibly know their dark friend.

"Yes, I know him." She turned towards her team. "In another universe, in another time-stream, he's our leader."

Hawk watched in amusement as all of the Titan's mouths dropped open.

"How do you know this?" Robin's voice sounded wispy, amazed.

"Because you were the one who rescued me from Trigon." She ignored other's stunned expressions. "The time stream is starting to break up Robin, when you changed the natural order of events the universe had to compensate for your absence in certain situations. However you were needed with the fight against Trigon, since you couldn't have been there you couldn't save me and Trigon would have won. But the universe couldn't allow that to happen otherwise it would be effectively destroying itself. So the two different time lines crossed over at that point and the time line has been damaged ever since."

Raven took a step forward and raised her arm so her hand hovered just over his face. "How do you think you can remember your past that doesn't belong in this universe Robin? If the time stream hadn't been damaged your past would have ceased to exist and would've been replaced by this time-line's." She lowered her arm and took a deep breath. "Your existence of your memories and your medalling in time has caused tares in the universe's time line."

There was silence for a moment before Cyborg spoke up with a confused look on his face.

"So this is the guy that helped you defeat Trigon while we were frozen back at the tower?"

Raven nodded. "Yes but your other selves from another time-line helped, in Robin's time-line where he was the leader. But they don't exist now as they were replaced by you."

Starfire looked like she wanted to ask more questions as she head her head titled and her mouth open but she was interrupted by Beastboy who groaned and placed a hand against his head. "This is making my brain hurt."

"I'm not surprised." And the other Titans glared at Hawk for a moment after that comment.

"Things don't make sense because the universe is damaged." Raven said silencing any questions from Starfire.

Robin stood there feeling immensely guilty as he couldn't help but feel that this was _his_ fault that this had happened, even though he hadn't been control of himself when his power had been unleashed.

"So what do we do now?" Speedy asked, an out of character question from him as he prided himself in giving out orders but this time he felt _way_ out of his league.

The half demon sighed and looked at all of the other occupants in the room, her eyes piercing through their own and her expression dead serious.

"If we don't find away to fix the time line soon…the universe will eventually be destroyed."

0.0.0.0.0.0

In the hidden depths of Robin's soul, so far in that not even the light could touch it, red tendrils of light began to emerge. Slowly seeping upwards, each of them glowing dimly with suppressed and recovering power and they began to bind and twist themselves within the pure and tainted energy of Robin's soul.

* * *

**Sorry that the update isn't long enough as you guys had to wait awhile for this chapter but this means that the next chapter starts in a conveniant place. It keeps the flow at the right pace. **

**If you are confused by anything just let me point some things out: ****The orginal events with Trigon still happened, when the demon had everyone frozen, as it was Robin who saved Raven with Slade and Speedy couldn't have done that (for reasons that will be made clear later), it's just the before and after that were different. Without Robin there. And the other Titans (not including Raven) with Speedy as their leader were frozen a long with everyone else when this was all happening. **

**I hope that's clear if it's not I'm sorry but don't worry as it's not majorally important to the plot line. The fact that the universe could be destroyed is... o.O **

**Anyway reviews are good, very good and keep me happy and writing! **

**So until next time!!**


	15. Uprising

_Here is the update...finally. _

_So here are the review replies to the people who do not have accounts._

_**firefly 12: **I'm glad you like the name, I decided to go with something plain and normal to contridict X's not so normal occupation. And don't worry he won't die, he can' t die, I love him too much. Thanks you very much for the review!!_

_**loveless101:** Raven is knowlegeable, she was the only one (considering the Trigon incident) that would know of Robin. I'm glad you liked the chapter and thanks for the review!_

_**iknoweverythingLIAR: **I'm so very glad you enjoyed this, and yes when I read through the last chapter I noticed, with panic, the mistakes. So this time, hopefully, there is none. _

_And to all the other reviewers, thank you so very much!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, just the representation of Red X, but not Red X himself unfortunately. _

* * *

The Titan tower was as high tech as it always had been, with its state of the art security system designed by Cyborg, the spacious living area with its huge television screen designed by Cyborg and having only one bathroom, unless you count the bathroom in the leader's room that no one else knew about (secretly put in the tower building design by Robin in his own time-line), designed by Cyborg. But no matter how fancy, clean or spacious the tower was, Hawk still hated the fact that he was there. 

"Will you relax?" Robin growled irritably under his breath as Hawk was unusually twitchy and kept grating on Dick's nerves. "Raven has forbidden anyone from trying to arrest you, or me for that matter."

Robin's gaze strayed knowingly over to where Speedy and Cyborg were standing on the other side of the room. Both of them kept sending distrustful and often hateful glares their way while whispering quietly to each other, and Robin wasn't surprised in the least. If Raven had told him he wasn't allowed to arrest a known criminal that was standing in his home he would be angry too.

"That doesn't give me any comfort." Hawk muttered back, he too was looking in the direction of Cyborg and Speedy.

Robin didn't bother saying anything in reply.

Starfire drifted into the living room through the automatic doors with a small smile on her face, she too looked unsettled at the company Raven had invited and the threat to the Universe that hung over their heads, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

After the alien had floated over to the kitchen, grabbing a small pile of food, she drifted back out again, sparing nervous glances at the two strangers before the doors shut behind her, leaving the pairs of teenagers to stare at each other from opposite sides of the room. Leaving Beastboy sitting uncomfortably on the couch between them and he kept sending each side nervous glances afraid that an argument or fight would break out.

"I guess Starfire was getting food for her pet." The green teen chuckled nervously.

"Silkie?"

The three Titans started in surprise but then remembered that Robin, in another time-line, had lived in this tower.

Beastboy nodded and scratched the back of his head, still trying to find away to dispel the awful tension.

"So…" He started but cut himself off at the annoyed glare Speedy gave him.

"What's the matter arrow head?" Hawk taunted, earning an angry stare from the teen in question. "Something bothering you, maybe I could help?"

Speedy's growl was cut off by Robin's rebuke. "Stop it Hawk. We're for their help, not so you can just start a fight."

James' betrayed look went unnoticed by Robin who was looking the other way.

"No where're not." That earned Hawk the right to finally have Dick look at him. "We're here because _they_ need _our_ help. Raven invited us because we are the only ones that can help restore the universe to balance or something, remember?"

"Not likely." And they turned angrily to see Speedy looking at Robin in disdain. "Not when he was the one who caused it."

James stepped forward in a warning, his muscles tensing and his hands twitching near his belt, eager to pull out a weapon. "It's not his fault you moron, you must be more of an idiot than you look."

The archer scowled, his body too suddenly full of extra tension and Cyborg shifted in warning beside him. "Watch your mouth _thief_, this is our tower you're in at the moment."

James didn't reply but smiled smugly at the hero, giving him the impression that he wasn't bothered at all but still knowing that if a fight did break out, the Titans would have a serious advantage.

Robin stood silently by Hawk's side, his cape draping over his shoulders and he sent his best bat glare at the duo over the other side of the room. Even though he was upset at the hostility, he remembered being good friends with Speedy in his own time, he didn't let it show and his face became emotionless.

The leader noticed Robin's stance and sneered at him. "Taken lessons from the Batman or something?"

The smile that Robin gave, one so similar to the victorious and often creepy smile the Bat gave when he had defeated his opponent, caused Speedy to regret his comment.

"Yes actually, I was trained by him."

The shocked and fearful, and it Beastboy's case, awed faces was enough to not let Robin regret sharing that information with them.

He heard James chuckle beside him but it was not him that the others were focused on as Beastboy jumped off the couch to run in front of Robin, his face eager and impressed.

"You were trained by _the_ **Batman**!" At Robin's nod the green teen continued excitedly. "So you've been to the Batcave, know where he lives, and even know his secret identity!"

"Yes. In my time-line, not this one."

That didn't seem to upset Beastboy at all. "But still! This is so cool!"

Cyborg, though he didn't say anything as he didn't want to upset Speedy, looked impressed.

"Why should we believe you?" The archer growled, looking at Robin's bright uniform and trying to picture him being Batman's sidekick.

"Because, through being Batman's partner, I know most, if not all, the identities of the Justice league, including Green Arrow's and yours, _Speedy_."

Robin didn't know why he was trying so hard to prove to the archer that he had in fact been trained by Bruce or that he knew so much more than Speedy did, maybe it was the fact that Speedy was leading his team and to over power Speedy meant being back in charge, or that it was just a matter of his infamous pride getting the better of him but when Speedy's face paled in shock Robin relished the thrill of satisfaction that ran through him. He suspected that this time-line's personality of his, changed by the way he had grown up, was playing a part in all of this.

He felt Hawk stiffen beside him and then grab his arm roughly. _"You didn't tell me you knew that!"_ He hissed under his breath. _"Why didn't you tell me?!" _

Robin was surprised at how panicked James seemed. "I didn't think it was of any importance, not to get the Titan's help anyway."

"Not of any…" He broke of and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He then turned to the other teenagers in the room who were staring at them in interest. "I just need to have a chat with my partner."

He then proceeded to drag Robin to a set of double doors that led out to the corridor, where they could find a deserted room where they could speak undisturbed.

Half way across the living room Robin wrenched his arm free of Hawk's grip, slightly humiliated that he let James drag him at all and just followed the tense teen in front of him, curious at to why he was making such a big deal to a set of information that he had known for a long time, in his own universe. It had never been a big deal before, as fellow heroes and even criminals knew that he had this information and never questioned it, unless criminals like the Joker wanted to beat the identity of the Batman out of him.

They found a small room with just a set of comfy chairs perched in the middle of it, and a few stray reading books scattered around on the floor, and Robin remembered that this was where Raven sometimes would come and read, if she didn't mind the lack of natural light.

Once the door was closed Hawk turned and looked at Robin and Dick's stomach swayed uneasily in fret as the teen looked _worried_. Really worried, he had never seen James looked this concerned, and he could tell this even with the mask covering half of the thief's face.

"I have never told you this because I only found out this recently my self and I didn't want you to get involved." He looked away and his hands twitched nervously. "The criminals have begun to ban together. All of them. Well, all the majors anyway, the most dangerous, the ones with the history and the hate for the League." He looked at Dick. "This wouldn't affect the Titans, not yet as their main concern are the adults. They don't believe that children can do any real damage to their society so they've left your friends and Jump City alone." Hawk began to pace restlessly. "But if they find out about you, about you being from another universe, about being trained by the Bat and knowing everything personal about the Justice League. Information that could be crucial to the League's destruction…" He took a shuddering breath. "They'll stop at nothing to get you, they'll torture you, rip you to pieces if they must to get that information Dick. And if they find out about your power… about that sword and how they can't harness it for themselves…They'll kill you, no matter what consequence to the Universe. They're insane, twisted and evil and they'll see you as a threat, one too great to keep alive."

"But my powers are gone!" Robin shouted in desperation, trying to convince Hawk that he was just over reacting. He grabbed the sword that was hung across his back and held it tightly in his grip. "It's nothing now! It has no power! Nothing!" He threw it to the ground. "See? And anyway, I've faced torture before James; criminals have tried to get that information from me before but never succeeded."

Hawk growled in frustration. "Don't you get it?! There's no Batman or group of Titans to help save you if you get caught this time! It's not just one or two criminals, it's all of the most influential and powerful maniacs that ever walked this earth that will be holding you down and beating the crap out of you until you can no longer scream!" His chest heaved from the effort from shouting. "And you just told Speedy and the rest of his little gang, who are bound to let something slip, that you know every fucking identity of the Justice League!"

The blade that was lying so innocently on the floor before suddenly flared to life and a jet of black flame raced along it's length before launching itself at one of the chairs, obliterating it from existence in an explosion of black sparks as Robin stood there shaking at the magnitude of his situation, not taking any notice at the sword that had reacted to his emotions or at Hawk who was looking in fear at the scorch mark that was once a chair then turning slowly back to Robin.

"I guess your powers aren't as gone as you thought they were."

0.0.0.0.0.0

Raven paused in her efforts to find the books she needed. Frozen in place she could have sworn she had felt the rush to her senses which told her that Dark Magic had been cast in the tower; yet when she tried to sense anything now she felt nothing out of the ordinary.

_Strange_. She thought, worried as she placed the book she had been holding on the floor. _No one in the Tower apart from me can cast Dark Magic. _

She sat back on her heels and looked at the books she had retrieved so far, all of them containing information on how Robin could've gotten here and how they could get him back. So he could put everything back to normal and Raven wouldn't have to deal with the disturbances to her magic all her time warning her of the change in the universe's balance.

The half demon was about to reach for another worn out book when a searing pain raced through her mind, she cried out in surprise and clutched her head as memories that didn't belong but where hers forced themselves into her psych. When it was over she found herself sprawled on the floor, books that had been in a neat pile spread dangerously around her, knocked over when she had fallen back.

She groaned and shook her head, sitting up and trying to digest all the new information given to her, memories the universe deemed necessary for her to know.

_Well, that explains the Dark Magic I felt_. She thought as she recalled remembering talking with Robin about him being the heir to Falcon Hungrave and the blinding pain after the hero had touched the sword that would've given him his powers. It also explains how he had managed to change the time-line, with having all that power needing to be released Robin had unconsciously used it to create this alternate universe. Why he had done and what he had actually sought to change Raven didn't know, but what she did know was that all of these books were now completely useless and she was dealing with a subject she knew very little about.

And that bothered her, a lot.

In desperation to feel better Raven released some of her magic to ease her emotions and placed the books back where they had come from. She needed to talk to Robin to see if he knew anything that could help, or knew someone that did. She highly doubted it, as her memories of the teen told her he wasn't very knowledgeable of his inheritance or magic in general, but it couldn't hurt to try.

She also needed to check to see if Hawk and Speedy had managed not to tear into each other yet.

As Raven walked down the corridor towards the main living room she was surprised to see Hawk and Robin emerge from one of her own quiet rooms. Both of them looked a little disturbed and upset and she noticed Hawk looking at the sword Robin was carrying carefully in his hands with extreme distaste.

"What happened?" She asked.

Both boys tuned towards her and Robin bit his lip anxiously as the older teen answered the question.

"I'm guessing you know of Robin's powers since you seem to know everything else around here." At Raven's nod he continued. "Well Robin seemed to think that his powers were gone, but according to the chair that was blown up he was wrong and seems to have no control whatsoever of his newly discovered powers." Hawk said the last part scornfully and Robin winced in shame.

"That's to be expected." Both of the boy's heads snapped up to look at hers. "Robin used all of it up to get here, to this universe and obviously it had to recover. I guess only now has it recovered enough to show itself but it will still take awhile before Robin can actually learn how to use it."

The younger teen seemed relieved by the answer but Hawk still looked troubled.

"That power of his isn't our only concern now. Are you aware of the criminal uprising?" At Raven's raised eyebrow Hawk smiled. "I thought not, so I guess that means no hero is aware of it. That could cause a problem."

"You can explain it to them later." Robin seemed to have found his voice. "I think we need to get back to the others and find out what Raven knows on how to fix this."

Raven nodded and tried not to give away the fact that she actually knew very little, she would tell them at the same time she told the others, they too deserved to know and now Hawk's warning of the criminal activity had intrigued her, even if the underlying threat of trouble had been clear in his voice.

As the three teens walked into the main room they were greeted by the sight of Starfire feeding Silkie scraps of chicken, left over from last nights meal, Speedy leaning against the counter, watching Starfire with a small smile on his face and Cyborg and Beastboy sitting nervously on the couch, waiting for the them to return.

The boys on the couch noticed their arrival first and stood in greeting, alerting both Speedy and Starfire to their presence and Speedy glared at Robin as he walked down with Hawk and Raven. Hawk noticed the hero's stare and he bristled angrily but didn't say anything.

"What did you find Raven?" Starfire asked as she set Silkie down on the floor and watched him scuttle off.

"Not much unfortunately." She noted their disappointed stares. "As Robin changed the time-line using his own brand of magic that I know nearly nothing about, accidentally of course." She added as Speedy was looking at Robin smugly thinking that it actually had been the teen's fault that they were in this mess.

"Why don't we ask the great Robin then?" The archer said, obviously still upset at learning Robin knew his identity. "Who was trained by_ the_ Batman."

"Because I didn't know how I did it." Robin replied frustratingly. "I only had my powers for about a minute before it happened."

"Powers?" Cyborg asked, his face etched in a frown. "You never said you had any powers."

"That's because I didn't know until recently." And he put the sword back in the sheath tied on his back, trying not to stumble as he once again got used to the weight.

At the other's confused faces Robin sighed and quickly briefed them on how he got his powers and why he thought he didn't have them anymore. "And it's not like I can use it anyway." He added under his breath, annoyed because he had no control and due to the fact that he didn't _want_ to have them, remembering the way he completely destroyed that chair just because James had upset him. He was fine with his martial arts and acrobatics thank you very much.

"Well we need you and your powers to get you to fix what you broke Robin, whether you wanted it to happen or not." Raven said.

Robin frowned at her, knowing that she was right but he could do nothing about it. "Hello! What caused the universe to change needed a huge amount of energy, which I don't have! I don't think I can even create a _spark_ after that incident with the chair. I don't even _know_ how to make that spark!" He felt James lightly touch his arm and he immediately calmed down.

There was silence for a few moments as they waited for Raven to reply.

"Do you know anyone who could help us Robin?"

The teen was about to reply with a frustrated 'no' when a thought suddenly came to him. A thought so tremendously happy that it brought a smile to his face. "My Grandfather." He whispered. "He's still alive, he can help us!"

Raven visibly relaxed. She remembered, in the other time-line, her and Robin talking about how he had known Robin was the heir, and now that he's alive it made all the difference.

"Your Grandfather?" Hawk asked confused.

Robin nodded and said he would explain it to him later.

"So now that we have a lead…" Raven began, regaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Perhaps Hawk can tell us about this criminal uprising he told me about."

"An uprising?" Speedy began, panicked, and the other three teens who didn't know about it looked worried too.

Robin visibly flushed and he turned his head away, recalling the rebuke James had given him.

"If any word leaks out that it was me who told this to you I'm a dead man." Hawk's serious voice echoed around the room.

"Don't worry man, we'll say we got it from an inside source, from one of the lower lackeys we managed to capture." Hawk nodded gratefully at Cyborg.

"Well, all of the majors are gathering together to take out the League. It's a power play Luthor's playing in an effort to become President. He wants the heroes taken out so he can rule without fear of them removing him from power and so he can scare the American people into submission since they would have nobody to save them." The thief took in all of the other teen's shocked faces. "He's promising all the other villains who help him wealth, land and power. Everything that they could ever want, it's been going on for months now and I've just only found out about it. Meaning the League are blissfully unaware to the danger and the only reason I'm so concerned and that I'm telling you is because of him."

The Titans all looked at Robin who refused to look at anyone else, his face set in a frown and his arms were crossed against his chest.

"If they find out about him, about his knowledge of the Leaguers identities, his power and his meddling with the time-line, his ability to change the time-line they would stop at nothing to get him. And I won't let that happen."

Hawk's revelation hung over the Titans like a ton of bricks, a heavy weight settled on their shoulders and it was silent until Speedy spoke up.

"Why is his knowledge so important, they could just get that from any Justice League member?"

"Because idiot." James's voice was low and dangerous. "The League would know immediately that a member was missing, they don't know about Robin, nor would they care as much about a runaway kid known for assisting a thief on heists."

Hawk looked over to where Robin was standing and saw the other boy looking at him, his expression was unreadable.

"So what do we do?" Beastboy squeaked out.

"Speedy." Everyone was surprised to see Robin address the archer. "You need to tell Ollie."

The hero's mouth dropped open while everyone else just seemed confused. "You were telling the truth." At Robin's nod Speedy stood up straight, his new mission burning in his chest. "I'll tell him and I will get him to listen, even if we're not on the best speaking terms."

Robin looked at Speedy in understanding and the archer smiled nervously before taking his command as leader, to the annoyance of Hawk. "I've got information to pass on, while Raven you will go with Robin and _Hawk_ to find out about Robin's powers." He turned to the others. "You need to stay and look after the city while we're gone." The leader smiled as everyone agreed and he stood, looking at all the teens below him.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Titans, move out!"

* * *

_And there you have it my friends, more annoying complications arising. o.O _

_Next time we travel to Robin's Grandfather where more and (hopefully unexpected) suprises await. _

_Just hit that review button!_


	16. Visions of the past

Here is the update folks, finally. But there are major aspects of the story brought up in this chapter. So don't blink.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, so don't sue.

* * *

_Wooden swords clashed as the two opponents danced around each other on the practice field. Sweat dripped down the back of their necks and barks of laughter escaped their chests in sudden tired grunts and fits of exclamations. _

_The black haired warrior side stepped his opponent, avoiding a sudden powerful swipe of the wooden sword, and using his advantage Falcon swiped his opponent's feet from right under him and disarmed him easily with a flick of his wrist. _

_Ju'had went down with a grunt and a yell of surprise as his sword fell from his hand, he then found the tip of Falcon's fake sword pressed against his throat and he looked up at the smiling victor above him. _

"_I defeat you again my fair Prince." Falcon's blue eyes sparkled mischievously as he helped his friend up. "You should stick to your arrows, your upper frame is far too muscular for you to be agile enough to defeat me." _

_Ju'had huffed indignantly, and waved a tired hand in the air, while the other raked itself through his shaggy red mane. "It is required of me to study swordsmanship." His green eyes then flashed and amusement dripped from his voice. "And I doubt that __**anyone**__ could defeat you Flacon, agile enough or not." _

"Tell me again why we had to go dressed as civilians." Raven muttered as she pushed her way through the mass of people, following the two boys ahead of her on their way to the terminal.

James turned around to look at her, his lion brown eyes sparkling in interest. "What's the matter _Raven_? Don't like the crowds?"

She glared at him, effectively cutting off any other attempts at humour as she dragged her suitcase behind her; cursing the fact that she couldn't use her magic to levitate it.

Dick continued on, not turning around as he soothed some of Raven's doubts. "I made sure we're in first class, so even though it would be a lot quicker in the T-Ship, at least we'll be sitting in luxury."

James nodded and grinned at the Teen Titan. "You can't expect us to go in your ship can you Raven? Especially since Dick's Grandfather doesn't know about him being Robin."

She refused to answer, they had this argument on their way to the airport and while she understood their logic, she still didn't have to like it.

As they boarded the plane and placed their hand luggage out of the way, Raven watched with distaste as James bounced eagerly in one of the seats, admiring how much space he had. She made sure to sit far away from him.

Robin sat with relief in the seat next to his partner, glad to just relax after the hectic scene of the airport, the plane journey was going to be a long one and he intended to get some sleep.

A dream that wouldn't be fulfilled until James stopped poking him in the arm.

"What?" He snarled, not in the mood to play games.

"Where's the sword?"

"Huh?" Robin turned to look at his lover, who was glaring at him impatiently, annoyed that he had been ignored.

"Where's the sword?"

"Oh." And the younger teen pointedly looked at Raven who was a few rows ahead of them. "She used her magic to hide it in her luggage."

James blinked then nodded, satisfied at his answer. It was a few moments later, after they had gotten in the air, that James noticed that Robin was falling asleep.

He nudged his boyfriend and grinned when he only got a snarl in reply, noticing the amusement factor he kept doing it until his bird's famous impatience won out.

He was going to enjoy this long flight.

_A warm mouth working against his, a breathless moan, fingers tangled in strawberry red hair. _

"_**Ju'had."**_

_A whispery laugh and that mouth travelled down his jaw line, over his throat and to his bare chest. His prince's hands were stroking his sides and moving with expert ease, knowing where to touch to get his friend moaning. _

_Falcon growled, wrapped his legs around the red head's waist and twisted, causing them to flip over so that he was now on top. _

"_No my Prince, let me take care of __**you**__." _

Robin smiled and took a deep breath, relishing the smell of fresh air that came with being so far away from any cities.

He turned and grinned as he watched his partner and Raven struggle out of the taxi with their luggage, both of them tired and irritable after the long flight and then the bumpy car drive after it.

"Come on guys, the house is only down the road." He pointed to a small village with in reasonable walking distance. "It's just after that village, since it's a rather large house with lots of land." He smirked back at them. "Remember no one speaks English here so just let me do the talking."

He got two infuriated glares in return, but he was already walking down the road, his bag slung over his shoulder and unconcerned with the two angry teenagers behind him.

Raven refrained herself from using her powers, no matter how tempting it was, and just followed the unconsciously designated leader. Mostly due to the fact that he was the only one who knew where he was going.

The half demon glanced at James, _Hawk_, when she once again felt a flash of emotion coming from him. The older teenager was walking a few steps in front of her, just behind Robin and she smiled slyly. She knew it was both confusing and annoying him at how Robin easily took charge, as if he expected the both of them to obey obediently.

She could understand why he was feeling like that, he didn't have the memories of the Robin she had from the other time line, and he remembered his Robin to be a bit more… submissive. As if Robin should be looking towards him for guidance and security, not the other way around.

She almost felt sorry for Hawk, but it was a character shift he was going to have to get used to.

It was a distressingly long fifteen minutes until they managed to get to the village, where they were greeted with curious stares and suspicious glances and Raven wished she had her cloak, at least then she could cover her head with her hood. However the villagers' curiosity was satisfied once they had a good look at the three foreign teenagers and saw which direction they were going.

One villager even went up and greeted them, though James and Raven had no idea what was being said, Dick easily spoke with the woman, speaking quickly and smoothly and it seemed the boy was in his element. And Raven supposed he was, Dick may have been born in America, but his ancestors had been born here, worked and lived in this place. His very blood was soiled into the earth.

After the short greeting they walked right through the village undisturbed, finally coming to the edge of the cluster of buildings and into the shadow of a large house, protected by a menacing iron gate and high walls covered in ivy.

"Looks inviting." James muttered under his breath but only Raven had seemed to catch it as Robin was already through the gate and walking up the path, obviously eager to get to the house.

The two other teenagers shared a wary glance and then reluctantly followed after Robin, once they reached him they watched in trepidation as he knocked on the heavy oak door, the sound echoing around them ominously.

They didn't have to wait long till the door was opened.

_Ju'had walked through the castle halls, slightly disturbed as his father's words echoed through his head. _

'_You must stop this foolishness with Falcon and find a wife, produce an heir. It is your duty.' _

_He knew his father was right, most of the time he was always right, but it just felt so wrong. He loved Falcon… didn't he? _

The door opened to reveal an old man leaning lightly on a walking stick, as if he knew he needed it but refused to let himself depend on it no more than he had to. His hair was greying, but he had yet to succumb to baldness and his eyes were a sparkling blue, dimmed slightly in old age but still filled with knowledge that Raven had been suspecting.

As soon as the man laid his tired eyes on Robin a smile immediately lit his features and he opened the door wider and pulled the boy in a one armed hug. "Dick! What a pleasant surprise." Both James and Raven seemed relieved that he was speaking in English, even if his accent was thick. "Please, come in my boy!" He turned to address the other two. "Don't just stand there gawking, get inside, come on."

Raven was disgustingly reminded of those Father Christmas emotional type grandfathers and it seemed James was thinking the same thing. At least he wasn't like Ebenezer Scrooge who hated all children and hadn't snuffed them from the start, but it was hard to imagine this beacon of happiness was Robin's grandfather.

The teenagers stepped into the welcoming warmth of the house and admired the oak panelling and the shiny hard wood floors. Dick took in the house that he had spent many days running through when he had been a kid and wished for just a moment that they weren't there on business. That the fate of the Universe didn't rely on his Grandfather's knowledge and that he was just there because he wanted to be.

Dick's Grandfather looked at their luggage and smiled warmly at them. "Looks like you will be spending a couple of days here then. I'll show you to you're rooms."

_Falcon walked down the corridor towards Ju'had's private chambers, with a smile on his face and carrying a basket full of delicious tropical fruits. He wanted to surprise his lover; he had lied and had said earlier that morning that he would out of the castle today. When in fact he had purchased these fruits from the market and intended to spend a full day and night with his Prince in bed. _

_Ju'had was always pulling things like this, small surprises that would always please them both. Falcon had cursed his inability to express his deepest emotions and decided that this small treat would hopefully express what he couldn't say. _

_He reached the chamber doors and fished out his key from his pocket while balancing the basket on one hand, the door swung open soundlessly, as the maids had recently oiled the hinges, and froze when he stepped inside the room. _

_Clothes were strewn everywhere, thrown there hastily and Falcon could feel his heart beat faster as the unmistakable sounds of moans reached his ears. He carelessly dropped the basket onto one of the seats, the fruit spilling out over the floor, and walked over to Ju'had's bedroom. Not wanting to believe his ears, praying that what he was thinking wasn't true and those pleas of 'more' from a woman didn't mean what he thought it meant. _

_A bought of anger surged through his body as he heard __**his**__ Prince call out the name 'Sophia', one of the noble's daughters who had been trying to get hold of Ju'had's heart for a good while now. And as he threw open the door it looked like that she had gotten a lot more that just his _heart

_He heard his Prince curse and throw himself off of the moaning woman beneath him, but Falcon had already seen enough and he knew as the two lovers caught in the act covered themselves, that all the colour had drained from his face. _

_He turned, unable to look at the panting form of his love for a second longer and ran from the room. He ignored the desperate shouts from behind him and continued to run. All he heard was the loud pounding in his ears and the feel of blood rushing through his veins. _

_He didn't know if he was aware of himself when he reached the stables and jumped on his horse, he didn't know if he was aware when he rode away from the castle and into the forest, and he didn't know when he finally stopped and stumbled into the cave that had given him shelter when he had been a child. _

_Yet, he was aware of the voice that called to him and said that it had been only a matter of time before they betrayed him, that it was time to take the power that he had before refused, that would give him the tool he needed for revenge. _

_And in his grief he was aware when he finally accepted and felt the darkness blacken his broken heart. _

"Bastard." James grumbled affectionately when Dick stole a potato off his plate and stuffed it into his mouth. He watched amused as the boy wonder managed to swallow it and James was amazed that Dick had managed to do that while still maintaining an air of proper manners.

"That's for making me drop one of my carrots earlier."

James just raised an eyebrow at him. "But it's a vegetable."

"I happen to _like _carrots."

"Since when?"

Robin narrowed his eyes at him. "Since…" And he trailed off. Since Alfred had made him eat all of the vegetables off his plate and the only vegetable that he decided he actually liked were carrots. "Since I decided that they're better than sprouts." He finally finished, not wanting to remind James that he was no longer the Robin James knew.

"What?" The other teenager laughed at him. "That's just stupid."

Dick opened his mouth to retort but was cut off by Raven coughing none too subtly at him, and he looked up and cringed when he noticed his Grandfather watching their banter with interest. Dick ducked his head and carried on eating his food with renewed vigour, though when he stole a glance at James he noticed the other boy didn't seem too bothered. Typical.

"So James." Dick looked up in interest as his Grandfather addressed his partner. "A young handsome boy like you must have many love interests; do you have a current girlfriend?"

Dick flushed an angry red while James managed to cover his indignant splutter with a cough, but whatever answer the old man had been expecting it seemed he had already got it and hummed in understanding as he glanced at his grandson.

Raven seemed too amused with this and she wondered how this man could suddenly be so manipulative.

"Mr Grayson, could you please pass me the salt?" She asked, breaking the tension.

The old man politely passed it to her with a cheerful smile. "Please, you make me sound old. Call me Jack."

Raven nodded once and looked up to see James and Dick eating exactly in the same position, heads down and slightly hunched over their plate. The Titan also noted that Jack seemed to be watching James, though she strangely couldn't pick up any emotions from him, perhaps in his many years he had learnt to guard his mind, she could tell he didn't seem too impressed with the teenager. Though he had yet to show any outward dislike towards James, the old man would look at him and frown, especially when Dick showed real affection towards his partner.

Raven could guess that he was just being a protective relative, since he hadn't been affected by the fact that they were both male, but it was like Jack would look at James and then expect him to be someone else. That it was the most peculiar thing in the world for Dick to be in a relationship with James, that Dick should be sharing his food with someone who didn't have expressive lion brown eyes and shaggy light brown hair.

Perhaps Jack didn't think James was good enough, but as she thought before, Jack hadn't shown any dislike towards James, just a strange curiosity.

Once all the plates had been cleared Jack beckoned the teenagers into the living room, with its large comfy couches and deadly but old weapons lining the walls.

"Dick, perhaps now you can tell me why you are here?" His question was innocent but his tone of voice suggested that the time for pleasantries were over.

Dick noted the serious tone and his expression turned neutral. "Alright then, perhaps you can tell me why you never thought it necessary to inform me that I am Falcon's heir."

James seemed surprised by his bluntness but Raven recognised Batman's influence and Robin's characteristic pride and stubbornness.

Jack seemed taken by surprise for a moment, then his eyes narrowed before he got a hold of himself and his features turned to sorrow. "It was only a matter of time before you found out I suppose, I suspect that the sword contacted you? The bloody thing has been missing for a few days now and I suspected that someone had stolen it, perhaps it had just found its way to you."

Robin sat there dumbstruck for a few moments, suddenly realising that his Grandfather knew a lot more then he should. "How do you know about the sword?"

His Grandfather just smiled. "My dear boy, it is because I am the leader of the group that watches for and over the heir. The Sword Keepers."

"_I killed the original leader and took the position myself. After stealing his mind powers of course."_

What Dr. Destiny had said when Robin had been on his way to touch the sword sliced through his mind like a knife.

Dr. Destiny had killed his Grandfather.

Dr. Destiny had _murdered_ his _**Grandfather**_.

The sword that had been lying hidden within Raven's suitcase suddenly appeared on Robin's lap, the stones glowing blood red in anger and Robin jumped up in surprise and the sword fell with a clang to the floor.

"Ah, there it is." Jack said pleasantly while the three teenagers were still recovering from shock. "Well, pick it up now Dick, come on."

Blue eyes flickered to the sword in disbelief before he reluctantly picked it up and set it carefully on the coffee table in the middle of the room. The stones now no longer glowing and Robin swore that the sword had a mind of it's own.

"Umm… Grandfather? Before you say anything else I have a few things I need to tell you first."

Jack just raised an eyebrow and nodded for him to continue.

Robin took a deep breath and hoped he was doing the right thing.

_Falcon stood over his precious weapon, weaving powerful magic into it's very core, grounded by the red stones decorating it's hilt. He would make sure that if he died his power that he had worked so hard for wouldn't die with him. _

_He knew that he would win tomorrow's battle, the King just didn't have enough men to conquer his own powerful army and there was no being strong enough to defeat __**him**_

_He knew he would win, but he wouldn't take any chances, so he continued binding his blood to the sword, binding his power to it. So that if he died his power would be forced into this sword and only when the magic recognised the opportune moment in the future, will it find his most worthy descendant and finish what he started. _

_Ju'had will pay, his kingdom will pay, and that was a promise he intended to keep. _

_0.0.0.0.0.0_

"_You sure this will work?" Ju'had asked, lifting the dagger decorated with ruins that were etched down it's side. _

_The sorceress nodded, her eyes flashing violet. "Yes, you must stab it into his heart, but your intention must not be to kill him, but to save him." Her eyes held sympathy. "I feel for your loss Prince, but Falcon has been taken by darkness, only your love for him, your light, can free him of this evil." _

_As Ju'had gazed sadly at the weapon that was to be his love's doom he thought about how he could have prevented this, how he could have told Falcon of his Father's wishes instead of just trying to breed behind his partner's back. _

_His green eyes must have reflected his inner turmoil because the purple haired sorceress spoke up. "It is not your doing my Lord that Falcon turned to evil, it was his destiny, just as it is yours to stop him." _

_Falcon had never believed in destiny, Ju'had mused, he believed in action and consequence, whatever choices you make you must suffer the repercussions afterwards. But perhaps the sorceress was right, perhaps no one could have stopped Falcon from taking the path he chose. _

_Ju'had clenched his fist and hid the dagger beneath his armour, determined to rid Falcon of the evil that consumed him; he would save him, even if Falcon died in the process. _

_It was his duty after all. _

His Grandfather sat back in his chair, suddenly looking his age. "Then things are far worse then I feared."

"Of course they are." James snorted sarcastically. "The Universe is gonna end if we don't do something."

Jack looked at the teenager tiredly. "The Universe is not going to be destroyed as you feared."

Raven shifted irritably. "I have felt…"

"No." Jack said cutting her off. "What you felt was a trick created by Dick's power, by the Sword."

All three teens just stared at him.

"You mean that Dick's power has a mind of it's own?" James asked, both fearful and angry.

Jack turned to look at the sword, which was silent and still. "I am not sure of the extent of it's consciousness, or how far it can actually think for itself but I know that this different time-line we are in now was caused because the Sword wanted it so. The reason that I am alive now is due because it will benefit both the Sword and Dick the most."

"But why?" Dick asked, finally saying something. "I mean, you're telling us things that I guess the sword doesn't want us to discover."

"Yes." Jack nodded, knowing he was referring to the trick the Sword put on Raven. "But that was a risk it was willing to take, and the only reason it made Raven think the Universe was going to end so that it would force you to learn about your powers, leading you to me." He took a deep breath. "Because it knows that I will teach you how to control your power. The Sword cannot do what it's previous Master bid it to do without the heir being able wield his power, and I cannot let you go until you learn control."

There was a pause until Raven spoke up. "And me receiving the memories of the other time-line…?"

"Yes." Dick's Grandfather nodded. "The Sword."

Dick buried his face in his hands, suddenly tired and wishing that things hadn't gotten so complicated.

"But wait." James grabbed the attention of everyone else in the room. "Can't Dick learn how to control the sword, I mean, he technically is it's Master."

Robin smiled at James gratefully and he received an encouraging smile in return

"Yes he can." The old man said. "But the sword will try to manipulate his mind every turn, that is why I was so adamant that you learn to protect your mind Dick, when you were little."

Raven took a sip of the tea that one of Jack's servants had given her earlier, trying to calm her emotions. "But what are the sword's objectives?"

The teenagers looked up expectantly at Jack, who was frowning at the weapon lying on the table. "No one is entirely sure. Some believe that all it wants to do is conquer, others suspect that it wants revenge, though what for no one is sure. Yet I do know that whatever it wants it will be to overall benefit it's master." He looked at Dick. "And it will reveal to you it's intentions when it feels it is safe."

Dick raked his hands through his hair, feeling uncomfortably out of his element and wishing he could just destroy the stupid thing. "What do we do now?"

His Grandfather turned to look at the clock and surprise lit his features. "Right now I suggest we all go to bed, we will discuss what we do further tomorrow when we are all well rested." The old man watched as the teenagers stood and stretched their muscles from sitting too long and they made their way upstairs, Dick carrying the sword in a way that suggested he wanted to drop it.

"Oh James?" He called out, catching both Dick's and James's attention. "May I have a word?"

James looked indecisive for a moment, looking between Dick and his Grandfather before nodding his head and sitting back down in his seat.

Dick didn't move from his position in the doorway as he looked at the two in the lounge worriedly.

"It's okay Dick. Go up to bed you must be tired."

The reassuring words from his Grandfather didn't work at first before a defeated look came on his face, and he spared one more look at James before he left the room, and neither James nor Jack spoke until they heard Dick's footsteps retreat upstairs.

"It's a curious thing." Jack started and he stood, reaching for his walking stick as he walked over to a shelf lined with many books of different sizes.

"What is?" The teenager said worriedly, watching the old man carry one book over.

The book was placed on the coffee table and upon closer inspection James noticed the faded covering, the bent edges and yellow pages.

"It's curious as to why Dick chose you to be his partner."

James raised an eyebrow and smirked in amusement. "You find that hard to believe? We lived together for a good number of years."

The old man hummed in acknowledgement as he began turning through the pages, searching for something. "A curious thing that, isn't it? Would you say that you two ending up together was inevitable?"

James paused, not sure where this was going. "Yes… no… maybe."

Jack smiled humorously. "I think it was, considering the situation you were in, brought about by this new time-line created by the sword, I think that you two ending up together was very inevitable."

The teenager scowled at the old man, now seeing the point he was trying to make. "You think that this Sword _made_ me and Dick start a relationship?"

"Oh no." Jack corrected, finally looking up at James who noticed he had stopped flicking through the pages. "The Sword cannot make anyone do anything. It does not have that type of power, but it can and has bent situations in time so it can get it what it desires, based on it's knowledge of people's nature." He pushed the book towards James. "It knew of Dick's natural attraction to you, no matter how small, in the original time-line, and changed it so that in this time-line, you two had the chance to get together."

James wanted to scoff at him but his attention was caught by the picture shown in the book. It looked like a painting, one of two men sitting side by side, the positions suggested that they knew each other well, _intimately _well.

"Do you recognise the man on the right?"

James looked closer and took in the features of the black haired man, soft features, agile in his sitting position, predominately blue eyes… "Dick." He breathed. Older, an adult, but definitely Dick.

His eyes immediately flickered towards the man on the left; he had a slightly bigger build, especially in his upper body, his eyes were green and he had suspiciously familiar red hair. "Who's that?" He growled out, knowing that the other person must be Falcon Hungrave, the one that looked like Dick.

Jack seemed content to answer for him. "That is Prince Ju'had, Falcon's lover. The only one who was able to kill Falcon during the great battle." He looked at the teen's conflicted face. "Do you know why?"

James's face knitted into a frown. "Of course I don't know."

Jack seemed unfazed by the teen's attitude. "It was because he was Prince of the land, his blood tied to the power of Falcon's because the power was created in his Kingdom, making him the only one able to destroy it." A small sad smile graced the elder's lips. "And because Ju'had loved Falcon, and it was that love that gave him the ability to rid Falcon of his evil, even if he had to die."

Jack's eyes then focused on the teen's own. "Do you understand? The only person who is a threat to the Sword is Ju'had's descendant, but he can only be a threat if Dick is in love with him and the descendant is in love with Dick. However that can't happen if Dick cares about someone else, if he is currently in a relationship."

Those horrific words sunk themselves into James's mind.

"You were chosen by the sword so Dick can't be with the one true person he belongs to, the one person who could stop the evil from corrupting my Grandson's soul. Roy Harper."

James, for once, didn't know what to say.

* * *

Mwahahahaha! And you guys thought Ju'had was Red X didn't you?

I could tell you that I'm not going to break the couple up but... why would I tell you that? I think I'll keep you guys trying to guess my next move (though it has already been planned out) and make you all worry.

If you nice and review I may answer some questions...

And some of you have been worried about the lack of Slade, don't worry, he will make an appearance, and then continue to do so. The guy is too awesome not to have. And also he has an important part too.

So review!!


	17. The end and beginning

_OMG! When was the last time I updated THIS! Far too long, but I do have valid reasons. Ranging from college, exams, extra hours at work, livejournal and my unforgiving social life (new friends who like to party). _

_But I am sorry that I have been neglecting this, I know I'm slow at updating, but I can't do much about that. _

_I just want to give a BIG thank you to all you reviewers!! You're views mean a lot, even if the review is just to say that you enjoyed the chapter, or to give a long critical view. It doesn't matter, reviews keep me going! XD _

Disclaimer: I do not own.

* * *

The shadows crept forward. 

0.0.0.0.0.0

"Perhaps you would like to tell me _why _you didn't stick to _your_ end of the bargain, hmmm?"

The other figure chuckled, swirling the wine in his glass in amusement and lent back easily in the large comfortable chair. "Because Luthor, you wanted me to kill _Batman_, and I'm afraid I couldn't do that."

Lex pursed his lips together and sighed angrily through his nose, controlling his temper. "Why the hell not?"

Slade lifted the glass to his lips and shifted his gaze from the other man in the chair to the quietly blazing fire. "I already have a contract with someone else, to _not_ kill the Batman; and I honour all my past contracts."

Luthor stared at the assassin for a couple of moments, his eyes narrowing. "You could have told me that _before_ I paid you."

"I could of, but you hadn't asked."

"These are dangerous games you play with me Slade."

That cold one eye settled on the billionaire once again. "Perhaps, but if they weren't dangerous, you wouldn't be in the game either Luthor." He took another sip of the expensive wine. "And we both know the meaning of balance."

Lex smiled and relaxed, but his eyes held more energy than the fire burning below the chimney. "I plan to tip that balance Slade, that's why I hired you. You know the promises of a world without the Justice League."

"I do." The glass was put down on the polished table next to his chair, and then he stood, his massive bulk roughly lit by the fire. "But you also know of the risks of a world without them."

The assassin then silently left, leaving Luthor to gaze steadily into the fire.

0.0.0.0.0.0

"You sure the universe isn't going to collapse on itself then?"

Raven pursed her lips together. She had already explained this. "_Yes Speedy_, I'm sure, but that doesn't mean we don't have any other problems."

He red head sighed, _just when you think you've sorted out one thing, another one comes along._ "Are you going to tell me what they are?"

"No. It isn't my business."

"But it's Hawk's and Robin's is it?"

She gave him an understanding look. "Unfortunately yes, it's up to them if the hero community is informed, but I believe you have a criminal uprising to worry about."

"I _know_ Raven, and I will inform the League." Once Ollie answers his damn phone. "Just stay with Hawk and Robin and _watch_ them. I trust that you will contact me when needed, just be _careful_ okay?"

She nodded, her anger gone. "I will."

Her face then disappeared off the screen as she terminated the call. Speedy closed his communicator with a loud, frustrated snap and looked at his phone again. Not surprised that Ollie had yet to try and contact him back. Their relationship had been completely destroyed after Hal had caught him with drugs and told Ollie, if it hadn't been for Dinah and his team mates then he wouldn't have been able to bear the grief of Ollie kicking him out onto the streets.

After that he had worked his way up, determined to show the Green Arrow just what he could do, and becoming the leader of the Titans was just the beginning, he had a lot of plans for his team, and expanding it was just one of them.

He already had Aqualad, Kid Flash and Wonder Girl recruited and soon they were going to move into the Tower. If what Hawk said was true, then they were going to need all the help they could get.

He roughly shoved the mobile back into his pocket and jumped into his car. _If Ollie won't contact me, then I'll just go straight to him. Perhaps Dinah would help…I know she would jump at the chance to help me if it had something to do with Ollie._

0.0.0.0.0.0

"_You were chosen by the sword so Dick can't be with the one true person he belongs to, the one person who could stop the evil from corrupting my Grandson's soul. Roy Harper."_

His grandfather's words were preventing him from sleeping and the fact that James hadn't come to see him after the conversation with his Grandfather Robin had eavesdropped on was worrying in itself.

_James didn't really believe that did he? _

_Could James really believe that the one thing that felt right in this whole mess was fake? _

Robin knew his Grandfather was a lot of things, kind, passionate, focused and determined; but he also was manipulative and had a tendency to with hold information from people, the fact that his Grandfather had kept his own heritage from him until now spoke volumes of what that old man was capable of.

He loved his Grandfather, he really did, but that didn't mean he was blind to his faults, and telling his partner that their relationship was based on lies and that he was destined to be with someone else left Robin feeling bitter and angry.

Perhaps the sword was causing all of this. Perhaps he is destined to be with Roy, Robin internally shuddered at the thought of making out with one of his best friends and long time partner in justice, Speedy. And perhaps that James couldn't stop whatever 'evil' was supposed to be corrupting his soul, but what his Grandfather didn't realise was that he was Robin, leader of the Teen Titans and trained by Batman.

And he wasn't about to let some weapon decide his own fate.

Robin sighed angrily and turned on his side, the sheets twisting around him as he faced the door, wishing he could figure out a way to make everything right again.

He spotted the sword propped up against the dressing table a few feet away from him. Within the darkness of the room the sword looked almost menacing, and if Robin wasn't confident that the weapon was harmless to him then he might have been afraid; but looking at it now brought forth familiar feelings of anger and contempt.

Feeling too restless, Robin threw the covers off him and climbed out of bed, not bothering to put anything on his bare feet as he stepped out of his room, not even giving the sword a glance as he made his way towards James.

If that idiot wouldn't come to him then he would go to the idiot himself.

Though he was angry, he made sure to keep his steps silent so he wouldn't wake Raven when he passed her room, but as he neared it he was surprised to see light spilling out from under her door and hear the muffled sound of her voice.

_Who was she talking to? _

Already feeling suspicious he silently slid up to her door and pressed his ear against the wood, his hearing straining to make out what she was saying.

"No. It isn't my business."

He heard someone say something in reply, but it was too muffled and quiet for him to make it out.

"Unfortunately yes, it's up to them if the hero community is informed, but I believe you have a criminal uprising to worry about."

Robin realised that she must be talking to one of her team mates, and he could easily guess who it was, but the thought of the current Titan's leader caused his stomach to knot.

"I will."

Then the recognisable click of her communicator shutting confirmed Robin's suspicions and he slid away, both relived and pleased that Raven hadn't told Speedy about last night.

James's room wasn't that far from Raven's, but Robin still thought how immature it was of his Grandfather to place Raven in between him and his partner, probably to discourage them from sneaking into each other's rooms.

Robin grinned as slipped through the door.

As his eyes adjusted to the lack of light within the room Robin thought about what he was exactly going to say to Hawk, but as soon as he spotted the empty bed Dick realised that wasn't going to be a problem.

Seeing as James wasn't _there_.

Surprised, hurt, then angry, Robin rushed forward further into the room, trying desperately to find any evidence of where James might have gone. Perhaps he was just going to the bathroom, or maybe he was thirsty and went to get some water, or maybe he had just left him…

There was a change in the shape of the shadows on the wall and Robin flipped backwards, avoiding the projectile that was thrown at him as he landed on the bed. He swiftly faced his attacker, more than ready for a fight but that energy immediately left him as he saw James hanging limply in the arms of Dr. Destiny.

"Hello Richard."

0.0.0.0.0.0

"Thanks for agreeing to help Di."

The Black Canary smiled, flicking back her blonde her away from her face as she stepped off the transporter with Speedy just one step behind her. "It's my pleasure Boy-o, that big idiot needs to learn a thing or two."

Roy nodded, hoping that this wouldn't end in a fight but as they were in the Watchtower, surrounded by the world's best heroes, Ollie hopefully would keep his mouth shut to prevent embarrassment.

They all knew Dinah could kick his ass.

Speedy had only been up here once before, and that's when he had been a few years younger, but seeing it now with his more experienced eyes Roy appreciated the Tower's advanced systems, the many personnel it took to run this place and the magnificent views from the windows.

And the fact that this time, he was the leader of the Titans.

"Speedy, just so you know, I am proud of you."

Startled by the admission, Roy couldn't stop the blush reddening his face.

"And no matter what Oliver says, so is he." She paused to smile politely and return a greeting that another hero gave them they passed on their way to the cafeteria, where Ollie was supposed to be. "However, I can't help but stress the importance of this situation." She looked at Speedy sternly. "The League have been suspecting this for a while, well actually, Batman has been, he's just never had any proof." She smiled again. "Now he has. But I suspect he would want to meet this 'Robin' character of yours, especially if he knows our identities. Batman has always been so paranoid over that."

"So, you do believe me over the criminal uprising?"

"Of course I do boy-o, it's the other universe, time-line mix up that's gotten me confused."

Speedy smiled bitterly. "I know, I thought he was crazy at first, but it wasn't until Raven cleared things up that got me convinced. But you should see him Di, there's just something about him, he knows all these things and he just seems so familiar…"

Black Canary watched the emotions play across the boy she considered her son carefully. "Well, I'm sure Robin will be able to clear it up, first we've got to get Oliver's head clear and then inform the rest of the League."

Speedy nodded, straightened his posture and followed Dinah into the cafeteria.

They spotted Green Arrow having a deep and meaningful conversation with another female hero, Roy didn't recognise her, but the League were always recruiting heroes for training, however what got to the teenager the most was that the conversation consisted of the female red-head yapping away and Ollie nodding and staring at her chest.

Other heroes, ones that Speedy knew, immediately cringed at seeing Black Canary storm towards the table where Ollie sat with one obvious intention in mind.

It was a common occurrence after all.

Luckily this time, Green Arrow spotted the raging blonde before she could take a swing.

"Hey Pretty Bird, I didn't know you were coming in today."

She glared at him. "Don't you 'pretty bird' me you big unfeeling…"

"What's he doing here?"

Speedy easily met his 'mentor's gaze as Dinah answered for him, cross that he had cut her off. "Speedy has proof of the criminal uprising that Batman has been warning us about." Ollie and everyone else in the room widened their eyes and stood, understanding the seriousness of the teen's visit. "He and his team have received inside information from a source who risked their safety to tell him." She leant forward and hissed dangerously under her breath. "So I suggest to stop this stubbornness with Roy and make it up to him, he really needs you right now."

Ollie's expression softened as he looked at the boy who he threw out, once pumped up full of drugs and now a proud leader to an impressive young team. "Alright son, come with us and you can tell everyone what you know."

0.0.0.0.0.0

Lex Luthor eyed the kryptonite bullets, conflicted.

Those bullets both meant the end and the beginning of a new era.

The end of Superman, the blazing thorn in his side, the face of justice and the foundation of all things good.

The beginning of a world without that symbol the people needed, a world that could be easily moulded into something new, where he could create his empire.

Yet, by ridding the earth of their greatest defence he was risking the entire planet's safety. He knew the dangers of invasion, earth had suffered it a number of times already, and without Superman, they were extremely vulnerable.

Luthor growled low under his breath and took another large gulp of his whiskey, savouring the burning taste and wishing that he could fulfil his dream of _crushing_ the man of steel. Watching that light die from those too bright eyes, hearing the man take his final breath and smell his blood on the damp earth.

Yet, through factors unchangeable by even him, Lex needed Superman alive.

And he hated it.

What he needed was a weapon as equal, or preferably, more powerful than the man of steel himself. He had already tried cloning, but so far none of the test subjects had manage to survive, he knew that if he had a few more years then his efforts would be rewarded, but it wasn't soon enough. He didn't have _years_ to spare, the secret society were pressing him to come up with something within the next couple of months, just like he had promised them.

Unfortunately he was finding it difficult to keep that promise.

What he needed to do was find time, placate the other members for now. He had been planning to kill the Dark Knight as a show of his commitment, but Deathstroke hadn't kept to his side of the deal and now he stuck at first base again.

He needed time and the death of a League member would give him that, but one question still remained.

Which one?

0.0.0.0.0.0

Robin growled and struggled at the bonds tying him to the chair and wincing as the energy cuffs sapped his strength when he tried to call on his power, that before, he had tried to ignore.

The teen hero watched helplessly as his sword was placed securely in some sort of container, only meters away from him. It seemed to be angry, reflecting Robin's own emotions, as it glowed red and spat sparks of black energy, but it was as helpless as Robin was.

Weapon-less, tied to a chair and threatened with the swift death of Hawk if he tried to fight, Robin could do nothing but watch as the air craft they were in lifted into the air, flying away from the home where he thought he would have been _safe_. Away from his Grandfather and away from Raven.

He didn't know if they were dead, still sleeping or just trapped in that house they were swiftly flying away from.

Dr. Destiny sensed his thoughts as he came to stand next to him, placing a hand on the teen's shoulder and chuckled at the angry muffle that was caused by the cloth gag Robin had in his mouth. "You don't need to worry about them by boy, not anymore."

Then, once they were far away enough, a colossal explosion rocked the sky and not even the gag could entirely quieten Robin's scream as the house went up in a peacock tail of flames, smoke and fiery ash.

_Raven! Grandfather! _

The sword flashed with flames, causing the personnel near it to jump away in surprise, but it couldn't break free, couldn't help it's master as he grieved over the burning remains of his Grandfather's home.

"Close the doors." Destiny ordered with a wave of his hand and Robin's view of the burning landscape was cut off, along with the sound of rushing air and the feel of the wind.

With the doors now closed, Robin felt the ship turn and speed up, but all he could think about was the fire, Destiny's cold eyes staring at him and the view of James unconscious, tied up a few feet away from him.

"Now, Richard." That skeletal face leant forward. "We need to have a talk."

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_I'm sorry! _

_I'm sorry for the long wait, I'm sorry for the shortness of this chapter and I'm sorry for the mean cliff hanger. _

_Forgive me? _

_Let me know in a review!!! _


	18. Locked away

_Sorry guys for the long wait, but my University course is really taking up a lot of my time._

_Thanks for all of the alerts and the reviews, it really does keep me going!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

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"_Now Richard." That skeletal face leant forward. "We need to have a talk."_

Richard glared up at the monster and he clenched his fists in the restraints to help control his raging anguish at the thought of Raven and his Grandfather being in the house when it exploded. "I have nothing to say to you."

Destiny chuckled darkly. "Oh my dear boy, I bet you have many things you wish to say to me after I just _blew up_ your Granddaddy's home."

Robin bit his tongue.

"But as amusing as baiting you is, I have more important matters to attend to." He stood up straight and stepped slightly to the side, so the teenager had the perfect view of Hawk sitting limply in another chair across from him. His brown hair hung in front of his face, mimicking the limpness of the rest of his body, and it made Robin ache to see his partner like that. _If only he had gotten to James sooner…_

"As you can see you have your little… _boyfriend_ here at stake if you do not cooperate."

Robin scowled at the obvious disgust in the man's voice and just scowled at him in return. "Who the hell are you anyway?"

The man looked surprised for a moment, it was a strange and somewhat amusing expression on a face that was just a skull, before it settled back to the neutral look he was wearing before. "Ah, we haven't been formerly introduced yet have we? Well Richard, I am more commonly known as Dr. Destiny."

The name rang a familiar bell in the back of his mind, hadn't he read that in one of Batman's files?

"Hmmm, you recognise the name don't you? Not surprising really, since I did battle and was temporarily defeated by that mentor of yours. Well, your mentor before the ancient sword changed the time-line to suit it's needs." He looked amused by the surprised expression on Robin's face. "Didn't think I would know about that boy? I was quite shocked myself, waking up a few days ago and suddenly remembering a whole different life, a whole different dimension that seemed more real than the one we're living in now." Here he paused and stared out of the window, watching the clouds sail by. "Though this life suits my needs a lot better, since I was murdered by Deathstroke in the other one."

Robin watched the man cautiously, his memory was faded and muddled during the events leading up to when he grabbed the sword. He remembered only certain flashes, Beastboy going missing, them finding where he had been taken, then Red X trying to stop him and a voice in his head…

His blue eyes widened in realisation. "You!" Destiny turned back to look at him. "It was you who was in my head telling me to go to the sword!"

The hooded man grinned. "Well done Richard, yes it was me. I just needed to give you a bit of encouragement before the sword itself lured you towards my trap. A trap that failed because of the unfortunate meddling of that assassin."

Robin shifted nervously in his seat. He knew Deathstroke was also Slade, he had figured that out not long after he had been forced to be the man's apprentice; but he had no idea why Slade had stopped Destiny. Maybe he had wanted something that Destiny had?

"No matter, I will deal with Deathstroke later." He then looked at Robin in interest. "Perhaps I could even get you to kill him…"

Robin's gaze sharpened. "I don't think so." He growled in warning.

Destiny laughed at the bound teenager and in retaliation the sword flared up again but it still couldn't break the container, it seemed all it was good for at the moment was a pretty light show every time Robin's emotions got out of hand.

The crew glanced at the weapon, feeling a little more confident at the promise of the container holding and turned back to their work, half listening to the conversation between their boss and their captive.

"As you can see Richard I have the upper hand right now, and unless you actually want Hawk to be hurt…" One of the attendants held a gun close to the unconscious boy's head and Robin shouted in protest. "Then I suggest you listen to what I have to say."

The teen nodded in defeat, yet his body was still full of repressed tension and he could almost hear the metal bindings groaning as his muscles flexed underneath them. "We'll find a way out of this Destiny." Robin hissed, referring to both himself and Hawk.

"No you won't Richard." Destiny stated. "I will make sure of it."

.0.0

Raven used her powers to draw the last bit of smoke out of her lungs, seeking out the gritty infestation until her breaths came out clear and pure. It was a basic level of magic she had picked up very easily, a sign her mother was very proud of. It proved that she was not totally her father's daughter, no demon could perform the light magic of healing.

But Raven wished her magic was strong enough to bring back the dead.

As soon as she slipped out of her healing trance she was greeted by the sight of the villagers and local paramedics loading the body of Jack Grayson into the back of an old ambulance. Being as remote as it was, it took just over an hour before the paramedics had gotten there, not surprising at the state of their vehicle; but the fire department had been quicker as had the villagers aid in help to put out the fire.

But not quick enough to save the life of Robin's Grandfather.

Raven herself had not come out unscathed, she had sensed the bombs just seconds before they had gone off, she should have sensed them sooner as well as the intruders who had put them there. She suspected another psychic had blocked her, who she did not know, but they had lifted their cover just before the explosives went off, giving her a few precious seconds which had saved her life.

She teleported herself out of the room but the release of energy from the bombs had disrupted her powers and she landed outside too close to the house. She had been thrown forward by the explosion and knocked out for, she guessed, no more than ten minutes. When she had come to she had been greeted by the sight of vicious flames eating their way though crumbled remains of the once proud architecture, concerned villagers who she couldn't understand and a catalogue of injuries that needed to be tended to.

She had tried to find Jack, Robin and Hawk once she had been strong enough but there was no sign of a life in the flames. Forty minutes later Jack's charred body had then been pulled out once the fires had died down enough, it had been a gruesome sight, but Raven then could concentrate on healing herself and contacting Speedy.

He had asked if Robin and Hawk had been in the house when the bombs had gone off, she couldn't answer but she knew no other bodies had been found.

She both suspected and hoped that both of them had been taken before the explosion.

Raven pulled up her slightly charred hood and turned away from the retreating ambulance, she hadn't known Jack for long, so personally she felt little loss but the villagers had and their sorrow was messing with her own emotions. Her head ached at the sadness and anger leaking off the people, she needed to get away until she could confirm that Robin and Hawk were safe and _alive_; and she couldn't do that until she knew who had done this.

"Hey Raven!"

She looked up and turned towards Speedy's approaching figure, concern creased his features and she could see him looking at her to try and find any injuries.

"I'm fine Speedy." She soothed and then turned towards the two heroes Speedy had brought with. "Green Arrow, Black Canary." She greeted with a nod of her head.

"You okay kid?" Arrow asked, tipping his hat back and scanning the level of destruction the bombs caused.

"I'm fine."

"Have they found Robin and Hawk yet?" Speedy asked grimly.

"No, I strongly suspect they were taken."

Canary looked at her. "Do you know who and why?"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Why should be obvious if Speedy has had a chance to inform you of Robin's unique situation. But, as to _who_… I have a few suspects. Deathstroke, Luthor, Dr. Destiny-"

"Destiny?" Green Arrow interrupted. "Didn't we put him in prison?"

"I thought so." Canary said shrugging. "But what does he have to do with Robin, I thought the leaders of the criminal uprising would be interested in him because he knows our identities. Not Destiny."

Raven regarded them as the two elder heroes looked at her for answers.

"I can answer that." Speedy said, crossing his arms.

Raven glared at him.

"I know you wanted Robin to reveal his powers himself but if we're going to find them the League has a right to know."

"Powers?" Black Canary echoed.

"Yeah, turns out Robin's ancestor was a dragon lord or something like that and before his death created this sword to give his rightful heir all his powers." Speedy shrugged. "There's more to it but that's the main gist of it. Raven thinks that Destiny wanted to control Robin himself for his own nefarious purposes, it would be reason enough for him to kidnap that little hacker and his thief partner."

Raven sighed. "He is not a hacker."

"Yes he is, because of him Hawk has managed to steal-"

"Enough." Canary said, giving Speedy a warning glance. "Does anyone else apart from the Titans and Dr. Destiny know of Robin's powers?" At the two negative answers Dinah looked relieved. "Well then, we either assume it's Destiny for that reason or one of Luthor's partners."

"Either way the League's security is still at risk." Green Arrow added. "I'd rather not be attacked while I'm a civilian. 'Cause that is what will happen if we don't find that kid soon. Not to mention Bats will have all of our heads if his identity is uncovered."

Dinah rolled her eyes and ushered the teens towards the villagers. "I know a bit of Romanian, so let's see if we have any witnesses."

.0.0

The first thing he became aware of when he came to was a pounding headache that clouded his senses and prevented his from becoming aware of anything else.

He must have groaned in pain because he then felt familiar hands helping him to sit up and then handing him a glass of water. "Thanks babe." He muttered hoarsely and drank the cool liquid gratefully, it helped to ease some of the pounding. "Where are we?" He muttered after drinking, looking around to find himself in some sort of cell. "The last thing I remember…" He swallowed.

"Yeah." Dick said bitterly. "Destiny got to us."

He looked at Dick, noticing that he was still in his soft cotton pyjamas and that James himself was only wearing a pair of tracksuit bottoms and no shirt. "Some slumber party huh?"

His partner snorted and his mouth quirked up on one side. "The maniac said we would get a change of clothes after he lets us use the bathroom and have a shower."

James looked around again, noticing the lack of toilet. "Okay… so, are you going to tell me what happened?"

He watched as his partner stiffened and turned his head to the side, facing away from him.

"Robbie?"

"He blew up the house. I … I don't know if Raven and my Grandfather…"

Hawk's eyes widened in surprise then he cursed under his breath. "Shit, Robin- I."

He sighed. "Just come here." He wound his arm around Dick's waist and encouraged him to lean against his side. "I'm sorry kid."

Robin shuddered then gained control of himself. "It's okay, I have confidence in Raven's abilities but if my Grandfather did die." He clenched his fists. "I'll make Destiny pay for taking him away from me again."

"You can count me in on that." Hawk continued to stroke his thumb along Dick's skin in an effort to comfort. "Knocking me out in the middle of the night really pissed me off."

They were silent for a few moments, James giving his partner silent support while Robin gathered up his courage for the next thing he wanted to say.

"You know I'm not going to leave you for Speedy."

Hawk stilled.

Dick sat up and looked directly into those brown eyes he was learning to appreciate all over again. "No matter what some old book says, I seriously will not suddenly find myself completely in love with Speedy."

James' mouth twitched in amusement.

"Besides, a prophesy said that Raven would be the end of the world, but she proved them wrong and actually _saved_ the world in end. I've been through too much with you to fall for some cocky red head who only has eyes for Starfire."

James grinned and pulled Robin forward, bringing their lips together in a hungry kiss. "I know." He said after they broke for air. "I can't help but be an idiot, too many weird things are happening lately. I think I'm still getting used to that other dimension thing."

Dick chuckled and laid his head against James' shoulder. "Believe me, so am I." He then grinned cheekily up at James, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm actually still getting used to _you_."

The other teen raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah kid? All those years of us together haven't been enough?"

"You know what I mean, well, if you had all your memories you would…"

James was silent after that and Robin shifted in worry, wondering if he had said something wrong.

"Do you think you could do that?"

"What?"

"Give me my memories."

Dick sat up, his eyes showing his doubt. "I don't know…"

Hawk sighed in acceptance. "Ah don't worry Robbie, I'm not sure I would want my memories of that place, especially with you and I growing up apart…"

Robin punched him in the shoulder. "Don't be such a dork."

"I can't help it, you're the computer geek, it's your dorkiness that rubs off on me."

Robin scowled. "I can kick your butt anytime."

"Yeah, _now_ you can."

"So, whose fault was that?"

James grinned at him, but it was slightly sheepish. "Sorry kid, but you weren't bat trained before, you may have been a talented acrobat but you sucked at the whole sneaking around thing."

The teen shrugged and turned away, the old feelings of guilt at being a hacker to aid a thief crept up at his insides again. He pushed them down, now was not the time to feel sorry for himself. "We should find a way to get out of here."

Hawk nodded, stretched and then stood up. "Have you tried the lock?"

"It's electronically activated, the bars are all sturdy, the cot is welded onto the wall and there are no windows. There is also a camera watching our every move." He nodded to the far corner on the other side of the bars. "I think that there is also a guard on the other side of the door that patrols the corridor. I've seen him look in on us a few times."

Hawk stood there frowning, looking down at his bare chest and the lack of equipment that would be in his suit. "Dammit." He looked back over at Robin who was still sitting on the cot. "Haven't got anything hiding under those pyjamas of yours have you?"

Robin gave him an amused smirk and shook his head.

James looked at the camera in the corner then back to his partner. "Did Destiny tell you what he wanted?"

The smirk fell off that pretty face. "Yeah, he wants to control me and use my powers to cause mayhem and show the rest of the world whose boss."

"Great, another 'let's take over the world' maniac." They grinned at each other before Robin turned serious.

"He could use me to hurt a lot of people James, it's already my fault that the house blew up. My Grandfather could be dead because of me."

James looked angry at this and let his frustration show. "You seriously need to stop with these self-blame guilt trips kid. The only one you should blame is the bad guy."

Robin looked angry and ready to throw some retort right back before he bit his lip and calmed himself. "I didn't even want these stupid powers. I can't even control them, let alone… What Destiny wants me to do I know I won't be able to do and if I don't…" He looked at James. "He's going to kill you Jay."

His partner stared right back at him. "That's not going to happen. I won't let it."

The younger teen nodded, but this felt too much like his time with Slade, but this time he could cause a lot more damage then fighting his friends and stealing weapons. The familiar anger of helplessness bubbled up inside him and he gripped his wrists in frustration that set his teeth on edge.

"Hey, hey." He felt Hawk loosen his grip. "Stop that. There's no need to…" That's when he knew Hawk had spotted the silver bracelets strapped tightly to his arms. "What the hell are these?!"

"They're to prevent me using my powers, some sort of energy inhibitor." He watched as James examined them, even lifting one of his arms up so he could look at the metal straps more closely. "I didn't want you to worry."

"Oh don't worry kid, I'm not worrying." No, he really did sound more angry.

"There's nothing you can do, so don't work yourself up about it."

Hawk growled and threw his arms into the air. "That's exactly what's getting me worked up, not being able to do _anything_!"

Robin stared at him. "Do you think sitting here in my pyjamas not knowing if my Grandfather is dead or alive while being held captive by a maniac is easy for me?!"

James stared at him for a second before he visibly deflated. "I'm sorry, you're right." He flopped next to him on the bed and stared at the camera in frustration. "You know that there's not a cell in the world that can hold Hawk for long. We'll get out of here and then work out a way to pay Destiny back."

Robin latched onto Hawk's hope, it was the only thing he could do. "Raven could even be getting help right about now, and Speedy could have been successful with the League."

"Well then, here's hoping that arrow head did something right for once."

The small humour was lost on them, all they really could do now was wait. Robin knew Destiny had to come back soon, he had promised a shower and a change of clothes after all. Not that he wanted to see that ugly skull face ever again, but the promise of a small freedom could give them the chance to plan an escape. Destiny was fooling himself if he thought that cutting of his rarely used powers would stop the two of them from breaking out.

"Hey Dick." James whispered to him, a dark grin could be heard in his voice.

"What?"

"I've got an idea of how to catch their attention."

Then, James pounced on him and with a surprised squeak that was muffled by a kiss, Robin fell on his back with James falling comfortably on top of him.

"What are you…!?"

"Just get with the programme kid, I don't think Mr Destiny will like the idea of me fucking his little weapon, it might even give great entertainment for whoever's on camera duty."

Robin panted and squirmed as James swiftly took off his cotton pyjama top and started to lick his way down his chest. "We, we c~an't… J-Jay!"

He felt James chuckle against his skin and he pushed feebly against his shoulders, half thinking that perhaps he was right and the other half that was completely mortified at the idea of doing this in front of camera.

His mind drifted unwillingly to Rancid… but this was nothing like that experience, all he could remember then was pain, here and now was filled with awkward pleasure and the dangerous glee of being watched. Besides, in this world, he was no virgin.

Hawk had managed to lick his way down to the start of his pants before the door burst open and a furious Destiny strode through. "Get off of him you filthy little-!"

Hawk sat up lazily, one elbow propping his head up as he still kept himself over Robin, while the other hand stroked up and down his partner's side. "Come on, why did you have to interrupt? I was enjoying myself."

Destiny stood just outside the bars, his hands clenching and unclenching at the scene. "You will get off of him James Hunt, or I will make you hurt in ways you've never even imagined."

Hawk made a huge show of reluctantly getting off his blushing partner, who grabbed the top that had fallen on the floor and hurriedly put it on, trying desperately to look as cool and unruffled as Hawk was.

Destiny watched him and seemed satisfied that he had caught them before… he felt disgusted to even think about it. He turned to the self satisfied smirk of a victorious teenager. "If you touch him like that again I will have you moved to another cell."

James just shrugged in acceptance. "So, now that you're here…"

"We would like that shower now." Robin finished, wanting to get out of the embarrassing situation as soon as possible.

James looked over at his partner and grinned at his blush.

Destiny looked over at them both then settled his gaze over to Hawk. "You were wondering about those memories…" He seemed satisfied at Hawk's sudden change in expression. "I can give them to you." He was planning on doing it later, but hopefully this would stop that hormonal teen from making any further advances. He needed Robin clean for the next ritual.

Robin looked worried. "I'm not sure..."

"I really don't want you in my head." Hawk stated seriously, the guy was a freak, he didn't want him messing with his memories.

"Oh you stupid boy, you don't have a choice." His eyes then glowed red, the room tilted and James clutched his head in pain.

"James!" Robin ran over to him, trying to help him in some way. "What have you done!" He snarled to Destiny who had turned away and was walking out of the door.

"Giving him what he wanted." The man called back and then locked the door with a click.

Dick clutched his partner, trying to figure out a way he could help, but knowing it was useless. He remembered how it had felt receiving memories from another life, one that seemed unbelievable but very real at the same time. He held James through his pained groans and wondered how this would change what was between them.

He knew Red X, and Red X looked after himself.

James' moans stopped and Robin cautiously helped him to stand, but before he could ask if he was okay he was pushed away almost viciously and panicked brown eyes stared into his.

"Shit kid. Shit."

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_There you have it, another chapter and now James has all of his memories._

Please review!!!


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